Moonstruck Nightmare
by Doomanator
Summary: Naruto, Shikamaru and Gaara are stuck on the dark cursed mountain of Absol Toshiyori. Naruto seems to be having nightmares. Something lurks on the top of that mountain and it seems to be calling Naruto. R
1. Absol Toshiyori

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto...Never have...Never will cry  
Warnings - AU fic, some OOC-ness 

A/N - Uh, okay...ive been working alot on this...and I hope it goes over well. I have ALOT MORE ideas for this fic...but we must take things one step at a time lol. I had Naruto's whole nightmare written out...and I realized that its best to leave some things for later. His entire dream will unfold thoughout the fic...hopfully among other plot bunnys that I can get out of my system hehe.

**Moonstruck Nightmare Chapter One -Absol Toshiyori**

**Written By - Treina**

**I**

Naruto jolted awake. His fists still clenching the bed sheets, even after awaking. His blanket was tossed to the floor, probably sometime during the night. The sunlight from his bedroom window forced his eyes to shut and block it out. His hair was soaked in sweat, 'the sweating wont stop for another fifteen minutes,' he thought. But the shaking he couldn't stand. He sat up to retrieve his blanket, within five seconds he was buried deep under his covers. "Why do I keep having that dream?" He whispered to the empty room.

He began having that dream exactly one week ago, when he would awake, he could remember every detail. But after an hour passed it was gone, erased from his mind, he couldn't remember anything about it until the next morning. Every night since then had been the same, but when he woke up he was remembering little and little. Now all he could remember was, whatever he dreamed about scared the shit out of him. And every morning he was feeling more terrible.

Around fifteen minutes went by and Naruto still would not move an inch. Although awake, he stayed buried under his covers with his eyes shut. Deciding if he wanted to try remembering anything about his dream, the phone rang. He glared in the direction of the phone and answered it. Not surprised that it was Shikamaru, he plopped back down onto his pillows with the phone at his ear, "what is it?"

Shikamaru began to explain minor details of a new job they were assigned to, "we will be taking pictures of Absol Toshiyori, I think we will have to stay there a few days. I will explain the rest of the details when I come get you."

Naruto agreed and hung up the phone. Bright blue eyes studied the ceiling, "Absol Toshiyori huh?"

Out of all the mountains surrounding the town, there was a single mountain that Naruto had always noticed since he was a boy. If you looked at that mountain from town it was black, pitch black compared to all the other mountains. It scared him, there were always rumors about the monsters that lived in its deep forests. And like the child he was, he believed them.

Sometimes curiosity would get the better of his fear and he would beg the old man who took care of him to go camping there. But the old man would shake his head and reply, "you don't want to go there. Go outside where its sunny and the birds sing. We will go camping next week, but you don't want to camp there."

The young blond would make a weird face at the 'crazy' old man. He would run outside to stare at the mountain, deciding that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, he would settle for kicking a ball around the yard. But still through all these years he had been a bit curious about that mountain, now was a perfect time to check it out. On top of it, he wouldn't be alone. Shikamaru would be there and he knew what that meant, tons of information.

He looked at his clock, realizing the time he got out of bed. He needed to take a shower and pack for the three nights he will be spending in that mountain, thankfully they found a cabin there a few years back so they wouldn't have to sleep outside.

Naruto had been on a few mountain jobs, most of them consisted of photographing wildlife and nature. One of his most favorite assignments was when he got to do the waterfall exploration, he had never seen such huge and beautiful waterfalls in his life. Shikamaru was assigned with him on that job as well. He remembered the lack of ramen on that assignment, he would have to remember to bring alot of ramen to last him these next three days.

VvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvV

In the middle of the city, in a small news conference room, Shikamaru sat rubbing his temples. "Well did you call him?" His manager asked, as if he were on his last nerve. "Yea I called him, he said he would do it and be ready two this afternoon."

The manager nodded his head and lit another cigarette. Then he noticed Gaara standing in the doorway, "what did you want to talk about?" He asked the red head, not even looking up.

Gaara didn't move from his position, "Im going on this assignment, Ive been on that mountain before," he said in a firm voice.  
"What?" Shikamaru yelled, "you remember the last time you went with Naruto? You almost got him killed"  
Gaara ignored Shikamaru and waited for their manager to respond. "Im sorry Gaara, I just cant do that. We need you here anyway."

He then looked up at Shikamaru, "shouldn't there be some things you need to take care of before you leave"  
"Yea..." Shikamaru left the room, not saying another word. Gaara did the same, although everyone knew that Gaara never took no for an answer.

VvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvV

Nauto stood admiring his hard work, he just completed packing the last of his three bags. The first bag had all his camera equipment, the second was full of clothes, and the third was packed entirely with miso flavored cup ramen. He looked at his watch, it was one o clock and he still had a little time left till Shikamaru would be there to pick him up.

He looked around his apartment to try and find something to do till Shikamaru showed up. Not looking long, he decided that there was nothing to do, so he left his apartment. "Ichiraku here I come!" He yelled with a fist in the air before dashing off in the direction of the famous Ichiraku Ramen.

If he was fast enough he would get to Ichiraku Ramen, eat two or three bowls, be out of there and back to his apartment in under an hour, as long as Ichiraku wasn't busy, but it was a Wednesday afternoon and no one was out, so it was safe to say that it wouldn't be busy. But he found that he was wrong, it was lunchtime and everyone was on break. Ichiraku was packed full.

Smelling the miso ramen coming from the building he decided that it wouldn't hurt to make Shikamaru wait five or ten minutes. After all, he would be out of town for over two days, and he wouldn't be able to come and have a bowl whenever he wanted. Nodding his head, as if to agree with himself, he walked in the bustling little restaurant.

VvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvV

Around an hour later, Shikamaru pulled into the front of Naruto's apartment and honked the horn. He waited for a few minutes, but no one came out. He honked again and silently cursed the blond for taking so long. He soon honked again, too lazy to walk up to the door, until a person popped their head out the window and screamed at the young man disturbing the peace.

Shikamaru sighed and got out of the car to drag the blond on this assignment if he had to, he was tired of arguing with the boss and other people down at the office, it was all too troublesome.

Soon he came to door 217, Naruto's door. He knocked, "Naruto! Come on lets go," he yelled, but got no response. "Naruto"  
Soon he decided to see if the idiot had drown himself or something, he wouldn't be surprised. He checked the door and found it un-locked.  
"Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, poking his head in the empty apartment.

He invited himself in and checked the bedroom and bathroom, "hmm..." Shikamaru mummered, 'you could at least be here when you say you will'  
He thought as he sat in Naruto's little couch. 'I guess I'll just wait here for him,' he decided, and began to stare at the ceiling.

VvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvVvV

Naruto waved to the guy that worked at Ichiraku, "thank you!" he said, and dashed off to his apartment, where Shikamaru would probably be waiting. "Shit! Im so late!" He said, looking down at his watch. 'Maybe he left without me.' he thought, picking up his speed.

He soon came to his apartment and saw Shikamaru's car sitting on the side of the road, "well he's here..." he said, noticing that the car was empty. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and went to see if Shikamaru was waiting at the door...or inside, 'I don't think I remember locking the door.' He thought, walking up to his door. Checking, he found he was right, the door opened without key.

The blond stepped inside and was not surprised to see Shikamaru snoozing on the couch. He tip-toed over to his lazy partner and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shikamaru!" Naruto whispered loudly.

Shikamaru kept his eyes closed, "Im awake Naruto, your an hour late..." he said and opened his eyes.  
"Geez, your so troublesome, its three o clock and the we are supposed to be there. I hope the guide is still waiting, we need to make it to the cabin before dark. So if we don't hurry, we will have to wait till tomorrow." Shikamaru stated frowning, picturing everyone at the office bitching him out.

Naruto began giving excuses until Shikamaru cut him off, "Naruto, we don't have time for this. Get your stuff, were leaving." Shikamaru said in a slightly demanding tone and left the apartment, to wait in his car.

Naruto soon followed and they were off to Absol Toshiyori, it would be about a two hour drive there and an hour into the the drive Shikamaru said nothing. Naruto began feeling bad for making Shikamaru wait. All because he wanted ramen, that he could have easily waited three days for. Shikamaru was an hour late, and Naruto knew how hard things were going for Shikamaru downtown. He sighed, feeling worse. Naruto never goes downtown, he is always called in for his work. He only needs to go when the boss calls him in (which is very seldom) and when he drops off his slides. But he doesn't even have to go into the building for that, there is a little drop slot located outside the building.

But Shikamaru was not thinking about any of that, he really didn't care that Naruto was late, it gave him time to sleep anyway. No, a certain red head was on his mind. It was curious how Shikamaru had not seen Gaara since he left the office, he began working with Gaara over three years ago and he never once took no for an answer, was he going to this time?

"Gomen..." Naruto stated, shaking Shikamaru out of his thoughts.  
"What?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eye brow.  
"For making you late, I know how bad things are down"  
"Don't worry about it, I don't much care. I had a good nap anyway." He interrupted, wanting to ask the blond something.  
"Have you by chance seen Gaara at all today?" Shikamaru asked non-chalantly.

But Naruto made a weird face anyway, why would he mention Gaara so out of the blue? "Why"  
Shikamaru frowned, "he said that he was going to go on this assignment, but the boss declined and told him to stay. I haven't seen him all day since then and I was wondering if you have." Shikamaru explained, but Naruto didn't quite understand.  
"So why would he come to me?" Naruto asked.  
"I just found it weird that Gaara didn't pursue it, he seemed very intent on coming with us."

Naruto didn't say anything and neither did Shikamaru, uncomfortable silence soon crept on and Naruto couldn't stand it, so he turned on the radio and Shikamaru silently praised the blond for turning it on and ending the silence. They would soon be at the guide, Shikamaru just prayed that he was there waiting and they would be able to press on.

Not long after, they came to a small building at the bottom of the large mountain, Shikamaru parked in front and honked his horn. "Hey Naruto, go up and knock on the door"  
"What?" Naruto screamed.  
"Its for making me wait an hour"  
Sweatdrop..."Fine," Naruto mummered, getting out of the car.  
"All he did was sleep anyway." Still complaining, Naruto knocked on the little white wooden door in front of him.

A short little old man with white hair and little round glasses answered the door. He leaned on a cane which he held with his right hand. "Can I help you young man?" The little old man asked, lifting his glasses, as if to take a better look and the boy standing on his porch.

"Yes, I am here with my partner Shikamaru...we are here to take photographs of the mountain." Naruto began to explain, but was cut of quickly by a little old woman who was standing behind the man.

"Oh! You must be hungry! There are some cakes in the oven, please come in!" She said and grabbed Naruto's arm.

Shikamaru saw Naruto get dragged inside by a little old woman. He lowered his head and sighed, "how troublesome"  
Getting out of the car, he noticed that maybe this wasn't the right place, he noticed a few more houses that looked like this one down the road.

Walking up the little wooden steps to the front door, the little old man opened it before he got the chance to knock.  
"Can I help you young man?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah we are here looking for a guide up to Absol Toshiyori..." Shikamaru said, pointing to the mountain.  
"Yes, I am that guide, your partner is in the house." The little old man said and led Shikamaru in the house.

It was a cute little house, you could tell it was lived in. Shikamaru was lead into the dining room where the table was filled with food and sweets. Naruto was sitting at the table stuffing his face and the woman just smiled at him the whole time.

"Hey, didn't you eat enough before we left?" Shikamaru asked.  
"Oh hi Shikamaru! Want some? Its really good!" Naruto said, gulping down what was in his mouth.

Shikamaru shook his head, "no, its too late, we need to get on that mountain. If we hurry we can still make it"  
"No, im sorry, you will all have to wait till tomorrow morning. I might be able to get you up there, but I wont make it back before the sun goes down," the little man explained, resting his cane against the chair and sitting at the table across from Naruto.  
"Well why cant you stay the night in the cabin?" Shikamaru suggested.

For a while the old man sat in silence frowning, "no, I don't set foot on that mountain, not even in my grandfathers cabin..." A sad look fell on the old man's face and Shikamaru said nothing more on the subject. He would just have to extend their mission one day, it wasn't a big problem.

Shikamaru ate a few bites but couldn't make himself eat anymore, he ate enough before the trip figuring they would be walking up a mountain and such. So he sat for a while and watched Naruto consume most of the food, soon Naruto was holding a full stomach, complaining about how much he ate.

"Follow me please," the little old woman said with a smile and began to walk up some stairs that was located to left of the dining room entrance.

The two boys followed the woman up the stairs and down a hallway. She opened the last door in that hall, "this is where you will both be staying, if you need anything just use that phone, it leads to the storeroom, that's where I will be, ask for Mrs. Fenli"  
Shikamaru nodded and the two photographers entered the room that they would be staying in for the night.

It was a nice place, they had their own private bathroom and separate beds. There were two bookshelves, both loaded with different books, some on the mountain and history of the little town they were in. But Naruto ran into the bathroom, "I call bathroom first!" He yelled, shutting the door.

Soon Shikamaru could hear the shower turn on and he rolled his eyes. Content that he could have a few minutes of quiet, his thoughts drifted amongst the silence as the running shower only acted as a comforting white noise.

"I wonder why he refuses to step foot on that mountain after dark...maybe it has something to do with his grandfathers cabin. Ha, I bet he's into all that superstitious mumbo jumbo crap like Gaara and Naruto," Shikamaru said to himself un-contiously.

Shikamaru shook his head, he couldn't understand why people would believe in things like ghosts and demons, or little urban legends that found their way around the city you live in. Like this mountain for instance, alot of spook stories come out of there. People claiming to have seen monsters or hear screams, Shikamaru knew it was a bunch of crap, people would try anything to get any kind of publicity.

The shower turned off and soon enough Naruto came out of the small bathroom, fully clothed in his niteies and cap.  
Shikamaru got up and walked to the bathroom, ready to take his shower and get some sleep, he wanted to get this job over with as soon as possible, it was already becoming to troublesome.

Naruto was happy enough that Gaara wasn't there and Shikamaru was here in his stead. This way he could stay awake without anyone knowing, unlike Gaara Shikamaru sleeps, and he doesn't just sleep, but he sleeps really hard, its takes alot to wake up a sleeping Nara Shikamaru...or any Nara for that matter. Naruto figured that he could fake sleeping until Shikamaru fell asleep, then he would get up and read a book or something.

It was a great plan, but Naruto knew how hard it was to try and stay awake, he was always out like a light. He would just have to try extra hard to stay awake. He didn't want to have that damn dream again. Especially while they were on this mountain, never mind the fact that they were really at the foot of the mountain. He couldn't blame the old man for not wanting to stay in that cabin, god only knows, its probably haunted. In a way Naruto was relived that they could put it off until tomorrow, the only problem was the sleep. How the hell was he going to stay awake for nine hours while everyone else slept?

He should have picked up some of those energy pills on his way home from Ichiraku, he would just have to keep his mind on other things besides sleep. Naruto could hear the shower turn off and soon Shikamaru came back into the bedroom and quickly hit his pillow.

"Ne Shikamaru?" Naruto whispered after Shikamaru turned the light off.  
"What"  
"Why do you think that the old man didn't want to spend the night in that cabin?" Naruto asked.  
"I don't know...and I don't really care, just get some sleep, we have to wake up early tomorrow and walk up this god forsaken mountain."

Naruto frowned, well Shikamaru was certainly in a bad mood. So Naruto decided to not say another word and let the 20 going on 60 Shikamaru fall asleep, this was where it started to get hard. Naruto could feel his eyelids wanting to close, to shut out whatever light that might still be lingering in the room. But he refused to give in to his dizzy mind and heavy eyelids, and he did very well for about three hours, but soon he fell asleep without consciously knowing it.

There, his dream once again began, once again did he begin to cry and thrash around. There, his mind was filled to the brim with terror and no way to escape from it.

**To Be Continued**


	2. We should leave

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto...Never have...Never will cry  
Warnings - AU fic, some OOC-ness 

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**Chapter Two - "We should leave"**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

**II **

_/There, his dream once again began, once again did he begin to cry and thrash around. There, his mind was filled to the brim with terror and no way to escape from it./_

VvVvVvV

It was dark, the kind of dark that you would only see in caves, but after spending endless hours in that place, his eyes had seemed to adjust somewhat. But why did he feel so nostalgic? He could swear that he had been here before but it felt like it could have been years ago, the water on the floor confirmed it, he had been in this exact place before, but why did it hit him only now? He had been wandering these never ending hallways for hours, and they all looked alike.

As Naruto stopped to take a quick break he could hear, far off, the dripping that never seemed to stop or change pace. He walked for what seemed like hours upon hours and the sound did not fade, or grow louder, it just kept its steady, mesmerizing pace.

"This sound alone, it itself is enough to make a sane person crazy," Naruto said, trying to drown out or alter the noise that soon began to flood his ears.

But he couldn't hear the words that came out of his mouth, or remember if he heard them. He could try again, but somehow his mind forbid it and the blond left it at that, he really didn't want to know anyway.

'What am I looking for?' He reminded himself, closing his eyes in attempt to clear his head.  
"You wont find it," he heard a smooth almost luring voice say.

Naruto shot his eyes open and snapped his head toward the voice in fright, not expecting any sound but the faint, ongoing drips.  
"You will search forever, forever and you will never find it."

Because of the darkness he could only see an outline of a person. But he could tell that this person was tall, and the red eyes, they could stare right through your soul and conjure out your worst fears and most terrifying nightmares. At that moment, an overwhelming fear over swept Naruto's mind and the blond could do nothing, could not breathe or think, just stand in terror.

VvVvVvV

It was three o clock in the morning and at any other normal night, Shikamaru would be sleeping peacefully, but this night he woke up from a nightmare, which was not common for Shikamaru who was used to very nice peaceful sleep and not harsh nightmares that made you feel like shit when you would awake.

As his eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room, he noticed that Naruto was also thrashing around in bed, although looking ten times worse then he himself felt. Deciding it best to wake the blond, Shikamaru quietly walked up to Naruto's bed and began to call his name, although a bit to quietly and Naruto continued in his nightmare.

"Naruto..." he tried again, this time placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

As soon as Shikamaru gave him a little shake, Naruto's eyes shot open and in one instant, Naruto was out of the bed and standing against the wall, terror still heavily embedded in his eyes. As soon as Naruto noticed Shikamaru and his surroundings the fright dulled and it soon was gone. Naruto gulped and almost collapsed back onto his bed. His throughout was dry and the sweat that wouldn't stop kept dripping onto his already drenched sheets.

For a while there was silence and Shikamaru didn't move, knowing that whatever just happened was not your normal good morning.

"Are you okay?" He finally asked Naruto, who was staring at the ceiling.

Naruto sat up and smiled, "yeah, of coarse ...did I wake you"  
"Yeah"  
"Sorry..." Naruto mummered, looking down, he knew how much Shikamaru liked his sleep.  
"Don't worry about that...are you sure your okay? You still look a little shook up, what did you see in your dream?" Shikamaru asked, finding it easier to ask the smiling Naruto than he thought it would be.

Naruto's smile faded a little, "I don't remember"  
"Oh..."

Then there was more silence until Naruto got up, "im going to take a shower"  
"Your not going back to sleep?" Shikamaru asked, looking at the clock.  
"Its three thirty"  
"No, im not tired, I will probably make sure all of out equipment is together...we will be leaving in four or five hours," he said with a grin.  
"It will take you that long to make sure everything's together?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.  
Naruto shrugged and hurried out of the room, away from Shikamaru and his questions, sometimes Shikamaru was too smart for his own good and it made the blond paranoid.

For a while Shikamaru sat and listened to the shower run, one half of him really wanted to go back to his pillow and try to get some more sleep. But then the other half of him told him that he needed to go and hang out with Naruto for a while. He found it odd that Naruto was having a nightmare at the same time, and seemed to feel like shit after awakening also.

This made Shikamaru curious, but his dream was quickly fading and the only thing he could remember was the intense red eyes, but even then they began to fade and he could no longer even remember what they looked like. "What looked like?" Shikamaru asked himself, feeling the blood throbbing through his veins in the quiet room.

VvVvVvV

Naruto walked out of the bathroom feeling ten times better, although still a little shaken. Actually, he had never been so paranoid in his life, every two seconds he wanted to look over his shoulder in the bathroom. Trying the whole time to not get soap in his eyes so he could see, but that didn't happen and he ended u spending the whole rest of his shower with soap in his eyes, he needed to see...

"Morning," Shikamaru said happily, making sure that all there equipment was together and ready to work.  
"Uh...I was gonna do that," Naruto said with a chuckle.  
"I couldn't fall back asleep, so I got bored"  
"Wow, you couldn't fall back asleep? That's a first"  
"I have to get the tea...before it burns," Shikamaru said in a weird tone and walked into the kitchen.

Naruto frowned, 'what the hell is going on?'

Most of that morning was filled with lots of tea and not much talking. Naruto could feel that the vibes that were floating around the room were not the same vibes that he received the day before, this house no longer held the homey feeling that it had, which is most of the reason that Naruto liked this house.

Shikamaru noticed that Naruto hadn't spoken two words in over three hours and tension was doing nothing more than growing. Shikamaru was never good at things like this so he thought the logical conclusion would be to not say anything at all, but he was soon finding out that this was not working.

"I had a nightmare last night..." Shikamaru finally said.

Naruto's eyes widened and he could do nothing but stare into Shikamaru's eyes who were also filled with the same fear. But half of Naruto did not believe Shikamaru. Sure he was an honest guy, but there was always something about him that made the blond nervous.

"What...did you dream?" Naruto asked, breaking the eye contact to stare into his tea.  
"...I don't remember," Shikamaru said, also looking down to stare into his cup, "but I can still feel it, its still here, like in that dream...but I dont...remember," he continued, getting very serious, frowning into his cup.  
"Can I ask you something?" Naruto said, sounding very serious.

"Hai,"

"How long have you been having these dreams?" He asked, frowning.  
"Uh, just last night," he exclaimed, surprised at the question.  
"How long have you been having these dreams?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Every night for the past week-" He said nothing more, for the old man was now awake and ready to get going.

The old man poured himself a cup of tea, "you all ready to hike up that mountain?" he said with a grin.  
Shikamaru stared at the old man until he left the room, "he certainly is happy..." Shikamaru stated.  
Naruto smiled his smile, "don't worry to much about it...we wont even be around him ALL day, just 6 hours"  
"Do we have enough water?" Shikamaru stated with a raised eyebrow, remembering that his car is just outside and the city is two hours away.  
"Water"  
"Maybe we shouldn't do this job, its risk is a little to high and I don't really feel like dying," Shikamaru stated matter of factly.

Naruto stood up and began to laugh, "die? your not going to die Shikamaru, nothing even lives on that mountain to kill you...theres no bears to be scared of"  
Shikamaru frowned, "its not bears im afraid of"  
"Eh? Then what is it your afraid of"  
"I don't know..."

Naruto's eyes widened for a second before he arose to put his dishes in the sink.  
"Heh, don't kid me," he whispered.  
Shikamaru frowned, hearing what he had said, "Naruto"  
"Im gonna get some water together," he said with a huge grin.

Shikamaru sighed, 'This is a bad idea.'

VvVvVvV

The sun finally rose above the mountains and they were able to leave. Although Naruto was a bit confused on why they had to wait for the sun to rise all the way, it was light enough an hour before they even began the hike into the mountain, but the old man hadn't said one word all morning, he just smiled happily and didn't really do anything but stare in one direction, and that was Absol.

For the first hour, walking up the dark mountain seemed like no problem, but after the second hour Shikamaru was wondering if he was going to make it all the way. Naruto didn't mind the walk, he went to work right away, snapping pictures of anything that caught his attention.

"Hey Naruto, save some film," Shikamaru called to the blond who was lagging behind.  
"This is where it starts to get tough," the old man said, adjusting the pack on his back, "best to stay together!" he yelled out to Naruto.  
"Coming!" Naruto called, pleased with his last shot.  
"Uh, how much more difficult is this going to be?" Shikamaru asked, but got no response.

Shikamaru found it amazing how black the mountain really was. He always figured it was under shadow of the mountain next to it, but that wasn't so. It was just black, the trees, the ground. If you stood still and did not move, you would find that there was no sound to be heard. No birds, no wind, no nothing, so Naruto made it a point to remain making noise.

"What happened here?" Shikamaru asked to the old man who was just ahead of him, climbing over a huge dead tree blocking their path.  
"What?" The old man yelled over the fallen tree.

Shikamaru climbed over as well, "what happened to this forest?" he repeated himself.  
"Nothing happened to it," the old man replied and continued the hike.  
"Its always been like this?" Shikamaru asked, not convinced.  
"Its been like this since I was birthed into the world, beyond that, I don't know," he replied in a nasty tone, not happy with the constant chattering that these two loved to conjure.

For a long while Naruto whistled random tunes to the dark jagged trees.

If it were not for the faint brownish glow in everything, you would never be able to see where you were going. Shikamaru suddenly felt dizzy, it was like he stepped into another world.

The old man grinned, "see the ground?" He stopped to let Naruto catch up, who was taking a picture, "sometimes in this wood, you can imagine your walking on nothing...do you know what I mean by nothing boy?"

Shikamaru nodded, but didn't look at the ground, it was all he could do to keep the image of him in a world of nothing-ness out of his mind. He just shut his eyes and thought of a shady tree surrounded by green grass and cool breezes, he was no idiot and was not going to get caught up in the plan, or trick or whatever it was that the old man was trying to pull. The old man began to chuckle as Naruto walked up.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, wondering why the old man was laughing and Shikamaru was in his weird meditative state.  
Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked at Naruto, "nothing," he said with a slight smile.  
"Let's go," he said in a demanding voice, turning his head to the old man who chuckled a little more and then nodded.  
"Yes, its no good to linger about," he said with a smile.

Now Shikamaru was mad, he wasn't sure if the old man was saying these things to seriously warn him or just to scare the living hell out of him.

Naruto meanwhile was still oblivious and was enjoying the change in scenery, although he wasn't that anxious to sleep this night...in these woods. But even if it were not for his nightmares, he didnt want to sleep tonight, now that he was curious if whether Shikamaru would have 'another' nightmare or not. But for some reason he felt like Shikamaru was making the whole thing up and there would be no nightmare, if Shikamaru was or was not having nightmares, Naruto was still glad that he got assigned with Shikamaru instead of Gaara. If Gaara were here he would watch Naruto's every move...mostly because he would be worried...mostly.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Shikamaru whispered to Naruto from over his shoulder.  
"Yeah, why"  
"You haven't snapped a picture for over five minutes," he replied sarcastically.

Naruto grinned and snapped one of Shikamaru and the old man behind him.  
Shikamaru quickly covered his eyes after the flash, "Naruto!" he said in a warning tone.  
"Heh heh...I figured we would need a few tourist pictures..."

Shikamaru found it pointless, what's done has been done and nothing he could do would change it, he would have to wait out the white spots blinding his vision and path. Well, at least he could see the old man ahead of him which was really all he cared about. The last thing he wanted to do was get lost in these woods, he didn't even have a map on him, he only hoped that maybe Naruto brought a compass. But if he was the one to get lost, Naruto's compass wouldnt do him any good, unless Naruto used it to look for him...if Naruto wasnt lost himself.

"Shikamaru," Naruto whispered, "I think someone's following us"  
"Its probably your imagination, or some animal who is more scared of you then you are of it," he said non-chalantly.  
"No, It's something else"  
"What are you all whispering about back there? Keep up!" The old man snapped.

For about an hour they all walked silently, Naruto becoming more paranoid as they went. He knew somone...or something was watching them, all he could do was tell himself that it was his imagination and keep the looking over his shoulder to a minimum.  
"So tell me about this forest," Naruto said, trying to make conversation with the old man. The silence was driving him crazy, on top of all the other things pushing him to the edge.

"There's nothing to tell. My grandfather built the cabin you will be staying in, he died right after building it. I remember how beautiful it was when I was a child, a real piece of work...now it leaks and is half falling down, but at least you have walls between you and the dark"  
"Heh, I never though of you as scared of the dark," Shikamaru said sarcastically.  
"When you've lived near these mountains for as long as I have, you learn to be," the old man responded seriously.

Once again Shikamaru was reminded why he should just keep his mouth shut around the old geezer, it was too troublesome to be at a constant word battle with the old man. It was much easier to just shut up and not say anything, that way the old man wouldn't have anything to say back. The problem was this silence, he wasn't used to it. If your in the city you continually hear traffic and people, if your in the mountains you hear the sound of chirping birds. But on this mountain you heard nothing and Shikamaru was itching to find out why there were no birds or animals to be found. Why the trees block the sunlight and cause everything to die...no nothing grew in the first place so nothing would die. There were so many questions toppling over one one another that he was determined to find out the secret of this black mountain and why it is the only one that's desolate.

Soon a sound was clearly heard and Shikamaru turned around and looked at Naruto.  
"Uh, Lets stop and eat!" Naruto proclaimed and sat on a rock nearby.  
"No, we keep going," the old man ordered, "we're almost there."

Naurto looked at Shikamaru with pleading eyes while Shikamaru shrugged and continued walking, "he said that we are close, you can wait," he said non-chalantly.  
"Well if I die on the way you will be held responsible," Naruto said with a glare.  
"Hai hai, I will even pay for your funeral," he responded sarcastically waving his hand back and forth.

Naruto made a pretty good sour face and crossed his arms while his stomach was the only thing that could be heard in the dark woods.

Two hours passed and Naruto thought he was going to die of starvation. "Shikamaru," he whined, knowing that Shikamaru knew why he was whining.  
"Aa I know, your hungry, but the cabin is right there," he said pointing and Naruto looked up.  
"Food! I can eat!" His eyes gleamed with delight and he at once ran to the cabin and tried to open the door.

The old man took out his keys and gave them to Shikamaru, "I will be back in five days to take you back, stay inside when the sun goes down, I don't want to haul any corpses down the mountain."

Shikamaru would have laughed if it went for the seriousness in the mans voice, "Uh, thank you for leading us hear, and the cabin"  
"Just stay inside when the sun goes down and you'll be fine," he warned once more before heading back down the mountain.

Shikamaru watched his back as he left, "Shikamaru! Lets get inside!" Naruto screamed from behind him, tired of trying to get his partners head out of the clouds.  
"I don't like it here Naruto," Shikamaru suddenly said, heart beating fast against his chest, "we should go back," he said straining his eyes to try and see some trace of the old man.

"What!" Naruto bellowed, "what are you talking about? Lets get inside and eat!" Naruto did not like the tone of Shikamaru's voice, nor what he had to say for that matter, so de decided he would stick to food. No harm usually comes from filling your belly.

**to be continued**

VvVvVvV

**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to update. As have have mentioned on one of my other fics, my computer crashed and I have had to write all of it over. But I think it turned out okay...although not as great as I would have liked...but what can ya do?...Thank you all for reading and I hope you return for the next chapter. )

**Reveiw Replys**

_ohjuotaku:_ Thank you for your reveiw and as you can see I have given you some of the dream. It was meant to be in the first chapter but I decided it worked better here. Gaara you will soon find out about soon. )


	3. Illusion

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Naruto...Never have...Never will cry  
**Warnings** - AU, some OOC-ness...I try! 

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**Chapter Three - Illusion**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

**A/N:** Wow I was surprised at how many typos I missed in the last chapter, I hope I did better this time .

**VvVvVvV**

/Naruto did not like the tone of Shikamaru's voice, nor what he had to say for that matter, so de decided he would stick to food. No harm usually comes from filling your belly./

Shikamaru soon came to his senses, the old man was gone and the only way he could get back was to wait for five days, unless he wanted to get lost on this damn mountain, then he would never get back. This mountain is forbidden and no one will step foot on it, except that crazy old man and foolish daredevils. Anyone who ever got lost on this mountain was never found, and no one attempted to find them either. If there was a person reported to be lost, they would consider him dead and have a funeral. He would have to remember to demand more pay for this job when he got back, if he ever gets back.

He turned around and faced the falling down old cabin, it was going to be a long five days. Naruto on the other hand seemed somewhat exited, although Shikamaru couldn't fathom why, just a few minutes ago he was freaking out and going off about something following them.

But Naruto was not as exited as he seemed to be, he still felt like he was being watched, but this time it was different, like it was something else. Shikamaru didn't say anything, but he felt it as well, like someone was burning holes though your back even when you would turn around. Maybe that was the reason why he felt the need to leave, to run as fast as he could back to the city and never look at this damn mountain again. But now they were stuck, no way to get back for at least five days. That's when he reminded himself that he had been in way worse situations.

Shikamaru finally opened the door to the cabin and Naruto couldn't have been more delighted with him, until he saw the condition of the cabin.  
"We have to survive here for a week?" Shikamau asked, so far, this trip couldn't get any worse.  
"Its not too bad," Naruto tried to convince himself, while walking around the place, "at least most of the windows are still intact," he said with a grin.  
"I think this cabin has a basement," Shikamaru mentioned, "should we try and look for it"  
"No," Naruto said getting a worried look on his face, "basements are creepy"  
"And this cabin isn't?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow, "...whatever, Im going to take a shower...don't go outside, its going to be dark soon."

Naruto frowned at Shikamaru, "im not a child, I know when to go out and when not to"  
"Well...I wasn't sure if you were listening to that old man, you were a little...preoccupied," Shikamaru explained, but with slight attitude.  
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto replied, swishing his hand back and forth.  
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

**VvVvVvV**

In a tree nearby, a black figure was watching every move through the cabin windows, but his eyes were mostly glued to the blond. What the hell was Shikamaru thinking when he agreed to take Naruto into this hell without any protection. Shit, the idiot had never even set foot on this mountain until today. This mountain, it was cursed, any fool who would dare set foot on it knew that for fact. But Nara Shikamaru would never believe such nonsense, but again Nara was a fool.

**VvVvVvV**

Naruto walked to the window, towel still in his hands. He gazed out into the darkness, it was amazing. One time, when he went on a job that required him to take photo's of some worms in a deep cave, just one mountain over. He had thought that he had experienced true darkness then, but this now, this is something one could never describe. Later on, Naruto would say it was like you were being swallowed in a never-ending pit of nothingness, but even that would never seem to do the darkness justice.

"Ne, Shikamaru," Naruto stated out of nowhere, "are we walking up the mountain tomorrow"  
"Yes..." Shikamaru answered, though not really tuned in.  
"What if the trail is wrong...or cut off...or"  
"Stop whining, if its blocked then we will simply turn back, there's plenty of things to photograph"  
"Boss will be mad..." Naruto trailed off, setting his attention back to the darkness.  
"Well, he wasn't the one who was sent here to this hell hole with no way out for five days. I could care less what the 'boss wants' right now."

"Why do you stay with your job then?" Naruto asked, still staring out the window.  
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "you suggesting that I quit"  
"I never said quit!" Naruto snapped, "I would never say the word"  
Shikamaru snickered, "you just did"  
"What?" Naruto asked, confused.  
"Nothing, Im going to bed, get some sleep Naruto," Shikamaru gave him a very serious look.  
"Yeah yeah, Ill go to bed when I feel like it, its not that late anyway"  
"Okay, whatever." And Shikamaru was off to bed, leaving Naruto with the darkness for company.

Naruto sighed with relief, it will be tons easier to stay awake sitting up and not laying in bed. Tonight there was no way he could sleep, even if he wanted to, this mountain was too creepy and every second that went by he felt like he was still being watched. For hours he stared out into darkness, not moving from his seat, just zoning out.

Then he saw something, something in the reflection of the window, someone was standing behind him, someone with intense red eyes. Naruto whirled around to see who this 'person' was, but nothing was there.

"Okay, now im getting tired," he rubbed his eyes, walked to the small kitchenette and began to make himself some tea. Trying to repress any fear that was trying to surface itself, he couldn't help feeling like something was right behind him with their hands outstretched, ready to grab him, but every time he would turn around, nothing was there. The third time that he looked behind him, the lights went out.

**VvVvVvV**

What was wrong? Something wasn't right, every night that he had ever spent with Naruto, the blond was asleep before the sun had even left the sky and Gaara had been working with the blond for over three years. It was almost two in the morning and the blond was still trying to keep himself awake. But why?

Gaara nodded when he noticed Naruto get up, good, go to bed. But he frowned when Naruto went to the kitchen instead to boil some water. But he snickered when Naruto began to look over his shoulder, looks like the fear finally caught up with him. But his own heart skipped a beat when the lights turned off.

**VvVvVvV**

It was black, pitch black, not a shred of light or a gleam anywhere, just total darkness. Shit, this is not good, Naruto's heart raced fast agianst his chest as his eyes strained to see somthing, anything. But all he could see was white spots due to the flickering of the lights before they went out, "Shikamaru?" Naruto loudly whispered, hopeing to wake Shikamaru up without attempting to find his way through the darkness, "Shikamaru!" Naruto said a little louder, voice out of whisper.

"Shikamaru's sleeping," a voice said, extremely close, and Naruto began to scream, "AAAhhhh! SHIKAMA-" but a hand was placed over his mouth.  
"Shh! Damn Naruto! Its me..." Gaara removed his hand and let the blond go.

Naruto squinted in the darkness, "Garra? Is that you"  
Gaara rolled his eyes, although Naruto couldnt see.  
"Naruto?" Shikamaru whispered moments later with a hint of worry in his voice.  
"Im over here! Gaara's here to!" Naruto held relief and joy in his voice.  
"What the hell are you doing here? How did you get here?" Shikamaru tried to make his way through the darkness in the direction of Naruto's voice, bumping in to things on the way.

Gaara didnt say anything and let Shikamaru wander around in the darkness for a while.  
"Will one of you say somthing?" Shikamaru said in irritation.  
"Oh, sorry Shikamaru...were over here," Naruto said a bit loudly and then began to ramble on about how he was right, how there was somone following them and it wasnt all in his mind at all, Shikamaru sighed.

"I get it," he said, attempting to quiet the blond down as the cool counter reached his fingertips.  
"Thats right," Garra said in a babying voice, "keep coming...your almost there"  
Shikamaru stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the darkness that held Garra's voice.  
He would say somthing to defend himself, but anything he thought of would make him look more stupid, better to drop it and just find the damn blond and then have him find the backpacks. Ugh, all he wanted was a decent nights rest.

He grabbed in the dark, not caring whether Gaara could see him or not, what the hell was he doing here anyway? Finally, he caught a wrist, "Oh good. Naruto, go find the backpacks."

Gaara snorted, "typicall"  
Naruto nodded and made his way through the darkness, somhow he had gotten used to it, it wasnt so bad if you didnt think about bad things. Shikamaru let go of Naruto's wrist and leaned up agianst the small counter.  
"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru whispered.  
Gaara didnt say a word. Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head.

Gaara had a few questions of his own, but he was in the right mind to have some courtesy and not talk about it in fron of Naruto. No, he would get Shikamaru off to the side where they could both talk, in total privacy.

Within five minutes, Naruto brought both backpacks to Shikamaru, attempting to rummage through his bag for a flashlight in the meantime. Gaara, who had spent most of his time in the dark, could almost see everything perfect, if it wasnt for the tricks his mind would play on him, he would probably spend all of his time in the dark, not really careing for glaring lights and electricity anyway.

He was amazed at how well Naruto got around in the dark, it was as if he was accustomed to this house and had lived here his whole life, dogeing the couch, table and counters as he made his way through the darkness. It wasnt that he could see like Gaara could, it was like he knew exactically where each peice of furniture was, agian, like he had lived here his whole life.

"Have you been here before Naruto?" Gaara asked as the blonde handed Shikamaru his bag.  
"No, I've never stepped foot on this mountain until yesterday...I guess I never really had a reason too." Naruto wandered, thinking about why he had never come to this mountain, "its not that bad here! It should be light soon anyway, then we can fix the power!" Naruto tried to cheer Shikamaru up, who he knew must be irritated at the lack of sleep. But really, Shikamaru didn't care, it was perfect anyway, he really wasn't in the mood to sleep anyway, not that anyone needed to know that.

"Naruto, we have four hours before it gets light," Shikamaru pointed out.  
"More like three, it gets light here quicker than in town...if light is what you want to call it, there is not much sun that hits through the tree's, as you should have observed yesterday. But it will be good enough to check out the power problem. We might have to live without it." Gaara observed, noting that they could easily live without it, "there's plenty of wood," he added.

"We?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow, "your not even supposed to be here"  
"I don't have work, I don't think its any of your concern where I am or what Im doing"  
Shikamaru snorted, when a bright light flickered in his face.  
"Yataaa! I found it!" Naruto cheered, dancing around with a lit flashlight in hand.  
"Good, go check out the power," Shikamaru said in an extremely irritated voice.

Naruto gave him a blank look and Gaara glared, "out there?" Naruto pointed to where he figured the window was.  
He was perfect, he was pointing exactly at the window, Gaara nodded, "you are an idiot Shikamaru, what the hell are you thinking by ordering him to go out there in the middle of the night? Are you the one who is trying to get him killed," the red head snapped, recalling the conversation in the office.

"Anou," Naruto started, wondering how this turned into a fight between the two, although they were never friendly to one another.  
"Shut up Naruto," he was not in the mood for this and was not about to just take it.  
"You are the one who needs to shut up Shikamaru, just go back to bed." Gaara snorted and grabbed Naruto by the wrist, "I will take him and fix your power for you, but note that I would rather take Naruto out there, then leave him here with you"  
Shikamaru frowned as Gaara left the house, dragging a protesting Naruto behind him.

"Turn your flashlight off," Gaara pointed out as soon as he shut the door and let go of Naruto's wrist.  
Naruto clung to Gaara, not wanting to get lost in the woods. He did as Gaara suggested and turned off the flashlight, but clenched it tightly. Gaara gave Naruto a pitiful look and then smirked, "you really cant see, can you?"

Naruto shook his head, and Gaara led the way to the power box out back.

"Its quiet," Naruto pointed out in a bare whisper, Gaara nodded.  
"Its too quiet, is there anything that lives in these woods?" He didn't know why he was asking, but Gaara seemed to know alot about this place, and somehow the red head didn't seem to frightened at all.

Gaara nodded once more, "yes, but things that are quiet, are always more dangerous, with some exceptions. Think about in town in the middle of the night, hundreds of crickets sound off and flood the air with their songs. But crickets are harmless, the things in this forest are not, in this forest, the more quiet it is, the more you have to be worried. Its not too bad now."

Naruto was amazed, how did he know all of this? He would ask, but he knew that the red head would probably shoulder him off.  
Gaara smirked, noticing the curiosity emanating off the blond. Naruto had weakened his grip and felt somewhat better, although the news that Gaara gave should have been no reason to make him feel better, but for some reason, he did.

The power came back on and the two went back inside to see Shikamaru standing in the exact same place only he was looking around, gathering his bearings.  
"We did it!" Naruto cheered and ran up to Shikamaru waving his arms around.  
"You did it, nice job"  
Naruto nodded and smiled, "Im gonna make some tea!"

Shikamaru was amazed at the change of personality in Naruto, just due to Gaara showing up. Gaara watched Shikamaru looking at him before joining the blonde in the kitchen. "I saw you in the window before the lights went out"  
"Oh yeah?" Naruto laughed nervously. In a way he was happy that Gaara had showed up, but on the other hand.  
"I was surprised to see you awake."

Naruto winced but didn't didn't say anything, he knew that was coming.  
"Are you doing okay? Usually your the first one asleep," Gaara asked in a whisper, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder.  
Naruto drew back and faced the red head with a smile, "Im fine! I just wasn't tired that's all..." He looked around, avoiding Gaara's eyes, "this forest kind of interests me," this time he was able to look strait in to his eyes, for this was the truth, "I feel like im being called, or am somehow connected..." he trailed off, going back to the water, which was now boiling.

Gaara, knowing that he wasn't getting the whole truth, somehow felt disturbed. After he had heard it, it never left his mind. He knew it was a bad idea to let him come here, Shikamaru, he could really care less. But somehow he felt responsible for Uzumaki Naruto. Something which no one but Naruto could possibly understand. He watched the blonde quizzingly while he prepared the tea, trying to fit everything together.

Naruto was nervous, he knew that Gaara was watching him, that's why, he hated it when people would get worried about him. He nervously poured the tea and brought some to Shikamaru, "what time are we leaving?"

"Im thinking a few hours after it gets light, then we have plenty of time to take pictures"  
Suddenly, an idea popped into Naruto's mind, "I wonder what the tree's are like at the top of the mountain"  
"Well, that's where we're headed, so I guess you'll find out," Shikamaru sipped his tea as he thought of the best route to take.

This would be interesting, Gaara had never been to the top before, he had no reason too. He also wondered why the tree's were like up there, he couldn't imagine that they could get any more black and twisted, or maybe due to more sunlight, the tree's looked more normal, It was something he was now eagerly waiting to see. Time passed quicker than expected and things began to get brighter outside. Well, bright enough to see the the trees outside the cabin.

"Well, we should get ready," Shikamaru pointed out, and walked into the back room. Naruto smiled and followed him, "yeah, I need to get my camera ready...how much film should we take?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "I wouldn't think too much, we have about five days, wouldn't want to run out..." Shikamaru tossed a few rolls in his bag, and after securing his camera tightly in his bag, he left the room. Naruto however, just hung his camera from his neck and stuffed his bag full of film. He hated seeing something he wanted to film, but he would just happen to be out of film. Better safe than sorry.

By mid morning they were ready to leave. It was alot later than Shikamaru was expecting, but still early enough to make it their in plenty of time to take pictures and walk back before dark. He just hoped that the scenery would be different than yesterday, and the feeling of dread dissipated.

Naruto, of coarse was already taking pictures as soon as they locked the door. First, he got one of Shikamaru and Gaara in front of the cabin, then when Shikamaru snorted and wandered down the path which was laden with weeds and huge tree roots, Naruto took a picture of the Cabin by itself. He would have to remember to ask Shikamaru to take one of him and Gaara when they reach to the top.

Gaara waited for Naruto, and Shikamaru waited for both. Che, this is going to take forever! They would be lucky to get one mile before dark. But to his surprise, the blonde and red head caught up fast and actually, Shikamaru began to have a hard time keeping up, even with Naruto taking pictures. One thing he could never understand, and that's where Naruto got all his energy from. And Gaara...he was just weird, following Naruto around like a dog or something.

The red head stopped and looked back, "lets stop here for a minute," he informed, setting his bag down to rummage for water. Naruto made himself busy by taking pictures of the surrounding areas. Shikamaru didn't even want to think about how much the blonde spent on film a month, he's probably supporting the store-owner and his entire family with the income Naruto probably brought to them, on film alone, "you might want to save some of that film," Shikamaru commented.

"Im not worried about it, I have plenty," he patted his bag that hung from his side, "besides, I have plenty more back at the cabin." He was amazed at how good he felt, the dreary feeling had totally dispersed. To him, the scenery could be seen as beautiful as a field of flowers. A dark old crooked tree was as gentle as an old willow swaying in the wind. Something inside him was jumping.

Unfortunately, Shikamaru and Gaara did not feel the same. They could swear that they were being watched, but dared not say anything, for whatever it was, could be listening. Although it was stupid to begin thinking like that. They would just tell themselves that it was the mountain and not a very good day, that's all. Naruto's lack of sleeping heavy on Gaara's mind and the blonde's current behavior was heavy on Shikamaru's mind.

Naruto was enjoying himself.

"Lets continue," Gaara suddenly spoke out, feeling the intense glare directed on him heavier then ever.  
"Aah," Shikamaru agreed, picking himself up. It was all too troublesome. He should have stayed home sick this week.  
"Hai!" Naruto yelled in enthusiasm, both Gaara and Shikamaru grimaced, shutting their eyes tightly as if they were about to be struck with something.  
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, noting Gaara's reaction.  
"By the gods Naruto! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Shikamaru snapped in a whisper, "shut your trap"  
"And yours as well," Gaara pointed out, not liking the tone in Shikamaru's voice.  
"He's going to get us killed!" Shikamaru argued.

Gaara closed his eyes and stayed silent for a moment, "I think we should go back to the cabin, you need to sleep"  
"Che! Don't change the subject!" Shikamaru spat, now out of whisper.  
"Tone it down," Gaara warned with a glare.  
"Calm down Shikamaru!" Naruto said, running in-between the both of them, "that is...I think you both need to calm down, we're supposed to be working. Not fighting."

Gaara said nothing, but continued to walk down the path, Naruto followed. Shikamaru glared at their backs, and even though no one was behind him, he felt as if someone was glaring into his.

By late morning, they reached the half way point and was happy to find that they would probably make it to the top within a few hours, provided they didn't stop too much. All three were pretty proud at the fact that they were right in the time set and as soon as they hit the top, Naruto declared that they should have lunch. Shikamaru happily agreed and Gaara lit the fire. He was a disappointed at their surroundings, the only thing that seemed different was there was more light, and the air was more fresh.

As Shikamaru lit a fire, Naruto declared he would go look around a bit. Gaara nodded, "just stay in hearing distance"  
Naruto rolled his eyes, he hated how Gaara treated him like a kid, but he smiled and nodded anyway, running off with camera in hand.

He wasn't five minutes away when he spotted something, still able to hear the others, who seemed to be arguing again he called out to them, "hey guys!" But they're arguing continued. He looked up at the huge ominous building in front of him, it had to be over seven stories high and far beyond 300 hundred years old. He couldn't tell what the building might have been used for, but it seemed to hold a sad look about it. Feeling like he needed to do something about this, he approached the building after taking a roll of film to it.

As he knocked on the door, it swung open a tiny crack. Cold breeze rushed out of the door and all that was seen inside was darkness. Naruto looked back toward their camp and could still both Gaara and Shikamaru. Nodding to himself, he slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.

_**To Be Continued**_


	4. Separation

**Disclaimer **- I do not own Naruto...Never have...Never will cry Warnings - AU, some OOC-ness...I try! 

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**IV - Separation**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

_/As he knocked on the door, it swung open a tiny crack. Cold breeze rushed out of the door and all that was seen inside was darkness. Naruto looked back toward their camp and could still both Gaara and Shikamaru. Nodding to himself, he slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside./_

Gaara and Shikamaru quickly finished their meal and sat for a long while not exchanging a word to one another until Shikamaru was the first to say something, "gods, where is Naruto"  
Gaara shrugged the question away while staring at the blonde's cold food, "maybe we should look for him," he said in an even tone. Shikamaru snorted, "we haven't even called out his name yet, im sure he's entertaining himself taking pictures of some tree he's taken a liking to."

Gaara raised an eyebrow and looked at Shikamaru, "well then, call for him"  
"Che! Why should I"  
Gaara glared at him.  
"Fine fine," he got up and walked a few paces facing the direction that Naruto went, "Naruto! Come on!" No answer, "NARUTO! DON'T MAKE ME COME GET YOU!" He screamed in an irritated tone before turning to the red head shrugging his shoulders, "didn't we tell him to stay in ear shot?"

"Lets go look for him," Gaara put out the fire and packed everything up, stuffing Naruto's lunch in his pack in case the over loud photographer might still be hungry.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

As Naruto walked the dark halls, he couldn't help but feel like he had been here before, but there wasn't anything to see, it was way to dark. It was darker in this building than it was out in the woods during the night. But surprised, he found that he wasn't the tad bit scared. He was more curious than anything else, everything about this place seemed familiar. The constant dripping and dank smell of the place. One thing he could tell, he was walking on a thin layer of some sort of liquid, and the dripping, that was enough to make him go mad itself, it never slowed or got faster, just kept a steady rhythm. Another thing about this dripping, it sounded as if it were coming from all around him, but it was just one drip, like a sink was dripping somewhere. It never neared or grew far, but stayed all around him, as if to laugh at how it was confusing his senses. But it didn't make a difference, he decided he would walk strait and only strait. He could feel the smooth slimy stones on both sides of him as he walked with his arms outstretched on both sides of him. Sometimes he could swear that he heard laughter from above him, or sometimes below, but he would quickly dismiss it as his ears playing tricks on him due to the non stop dripping. The time he had spent in this place was un-known, it could have been minutes or hours, maybe days for all he knew. But one thing, the door he came in disappeared right as it closed, leaving him to find another exit out of this hell hole.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

What could have happened to Naruto? They had spent two hours now looking for him and he was no where to be found. There was no trace of him and Gaara began to get worried. Eighty percent of the people to enter this mountain would disappear into nothingness, and none of them returned. He was suddenly aware that finding the blonde was the first thing they should accomplish.

"Hey Gaara," Shikamaru stated, coming in from the left, "we should head back to the cabin, he might be there waiting for us"  
Gaara shook his head, "no, he doesn't know the way and there's no way he would head back without telling us first. Keep looking, we will set up camp here if we have to"  
Shikamaru gulped, "are you crazy! Gods only know what lurks in this forest, I don't like sleeping in the cabin during the night on this damn mountain, more or less out here"  
"Well," Gaara sighed, "its up to you, you can head back if you want and keep an eye out for Uzumaki, but im not leaving here until I find him." He headed up the mountain a bit more, and Shikamaru followed, "well, I will stay for a few more minutes, but im not sleeping out here." The red head nodded.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Naruto was amazed, how big was this place? No matter how long he kept walking, there never seemed to be an end to this hallway. He could still feel the walls beside him, and the liquid under his feet. His ears were still filled with the constant steady dripping. He felt as if he had been walking for hours, but there was no end to this hallway. Was he having that nightmare again? Panic climbed his throat as the idea came to him, what would happen if he woke up and forgot everything, again. But something was missing, something very important that he still couldn't remember. What could it be? The dream would not end until it would come to him, but was it a good thing or a bad thing? Something in his gut told him it was bad, very bad. But the thought of Gaara and Shikamaru being safe was an ease on his mind.

Not being able to see for hours, or maybe even days seemed to make his ears sensitive and the dripping echoed in his ears, making him want to go deaf in the process of going bind. The smell of the dank and stuffy air filled his nose with an unbearable scent. Why was he so stupid? Why would he venture into this dark dank building without even thinking about how he was to get out. Then it hit him, his flashlight! It should be in his bag that was still hanging from his shoulders. He struck himself in the head, cursing himself fro being so dumb. He slid the backpack off and felt around, but the strange thing was, there was nothing in it. Not one thing.

What the hell was going on?

VvvVvvVvvVvvV

After an hour hike up the mountain, Shikamaru saw something that made his skin crawl, "G-Gaara...you should come see this..." Shikamaru pointed in front of him with a shaking hand and Gaara's eyes widened as he went pale.  
"This isn't right," he pulled out his map and looked in ahead, "we're at the top of the mountain"  
"The old man didn't say anything about this," Shikamaru's hand still trembled in the misty glow of the sun.  
"That's cause this shouldn't be here, this shouldn't exist...ive been here before...this shouldn't be here"  
"That's impossible, this building looks to be over a hundred years old." Shikamaru shook his head, not willing to believe what the red head was suggesting, "d-do you think Naruto is in there?" The hair on Shikamaru's back stood strait up, causing goose bumps to form over his body.

"Hm..." Was the only thing Gaara muttered.

Shikamaru stared at the building, finding some sort of familiarity within it. But it was an evil twisted looking building and he was sure that if he had seen it before, he would have surely remembered. But this wasn't right, Naruto or not, they should head back to the cabin, his every human instinct told him that much.

For a full half hour they stood in silence in front of the becoming building until Gaara broke the silence, "we're going in"  
"What! Im not going in there!" Shikamaru yelled, pointing his finger back at the ominous warehouse.  
"Then...you go back to the cabin, but I know Naruto's in there and I cant leave him." He walked up to the huge double doors and just as he went to open them, they swung open.  
"No! Im not going in there!" Shikamaru once again protested, his heart racing.  
"I told you to go back to the cabin!" Gaara snapped, turning his gaze from the darkness inside to the panic stricken Shikamaru.

Shikamaru looked around and noticed things were beginning to get darker. He didn't know if that was due to the building, or because the sun was going down. But the last thing he wanted was to be lost on this mountain. He looked in the doors and shivered, but he tried to keep a good outlook, at least inside, he wouldn't be alone. He searched his mind and could only think about the last time he had been this scared. He was five years old and couldn't sleep due to the 'monsters' that lived in his closet. And to make matters worse, his father had just finished one of the scariest books he had read, even in this day and age.

"Im going in," Gaara remarked, taking a few steps inside and Shikamaru slowly followed, hair still standing up.  
As soon as both of them were in, the door slammed behind them and was gone, no longer there.

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Everything about this place was familiar, the dripping, the smell, the thin layer of liquid on the floor. Everything was de ja vu and there was no ending to it. But there was nothing he could do about it now, it was too late, he already decided on going in with Gaara rather than wandering the mountain alone. But now being here, the mountain seemed more like a safe haven compared to this place.

"Naruto! NARUTO!" Gaara yelled, hearing his voice bounce off walls and echoing right back at him.  
Shikamaru clenched the red head's arm, afraid to get separated, it was dark, darker than dark and his head spun. He closed his eyes trying to regain composure until panic overtook him, "Gaara, we...we need to get out of here, now..." his voice came out in broken spurts and he crouched the ground unable to stand as his head swam around in darkness.  
"NARUTO!" Gaara yelled again, half ignoring Shikamaru who he told to get back to the cabin. He took a step forward but was stopped by a tight fist around his pant leg.

"Gaara..." Shikamaru trembled, unable to stop the dizziness, he dropped fully to the ground, totally unconscious and Gaara knelt down beside him, "Shikamaru, are you okay?" But no answer, the steady rapid breathing the only indication that his friend was alive.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Naruto walked and walked and walked, until he finally hit a wall in front of him. Relived that this place didn't go on forever, he crouched to the ground with his back to the wall. There, he rested a while until a slight noise, other than the dripping filled his ears. It was Gaara yelling out his name, but it sounded far, too far fro comfort. He got back to his feel and began to answer back.

"GAARA!" He cupped each side of his mouth with his hands and yelled once again. But this time, no noise seemed to come out. Then something else reached the boy's ears. It was a child, a child laughing playfully. This laughing seemed to be getting closer and closer, until it was so close and Naruto could feel the breath on the side of his neck. He swirled around to face whatever it might be. Still feeling like he had re-lived this moment a million times he asked, "who is it?" But once again, no voice came out.

The laughing stopped and a dim green light began to fill the hall he was in revealing a small raven haired boy with matching black eyes. He could be no older than nine years old and the smile on his face was eerie and frightening. He giggled a few time more before moving a finger back and forth.

"No no, that's not fair, we will have none of that."

Naruto gave him a curious look, but for some reason, he wasn't afraid, deep sorrow seemed to fill the blonde as he stared dumbfounded at the small child who was clad in all black, "In case your wondering," he child began in a playful tone, "I have taken your voice." He held up a small glass jar with a cork sticking out the top. "But I am willing to give you this light in return, its a fair deal, I think." The boy stuffed the small piece of colored glass in his shirt and stared at the blonde. "My brother wants to see you, we've been expecting you for over three months now, im happy we will finally get to play." He laughed some more, but sorrow was seen deep in his eyes and Naruto couldn't help but feel every bit of it.

"I have your friends, and if you wish to see them again, you must see my brother." The boy pointed to a staircase at the far right side of the hall, a staircase that Naruto, of coarse, didn't know existed until this moment. "I will give you your voice back if you wish, but I will take the light...in the dark, you probably wont see your friends for at least three years. That's how long it would take you to find my brother...without the light. Besides, you don't need your voice anyway."

Naruto didn't stir, he was no fool and at this point, would rather have the light than his voice anyway.  
"Im sure your wondering, if you accept my offer, will you ever get your voice back?" The small boy rubbed his chin before smiling at the blond once more, "that's for my brother to decide. But you should be thankful for my gift. My brother is eagerly awaiting your presence. If you wind up wanting your voice, just call," he began to laugh as he flew down the hallway, his childish giggle fading into nothingness.

Did this child think im stupid? How would he call without his voice? Not that it mattered, the first thing to do now, was to climb the staircase.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

DRIP DRIP DRIP

"Shikamaru...Shikamaru," Gaara whispered.  
Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes and saw nothing, but the feel of the warm hand on his forehead made him know that he wasn't alone. "Gaara?" He pulled a hand up to his head, trying to subside the pain that racked through it. "What happened"  
"You fell the the ground just a few minutes ago," he answered in a somewhat worried tone.  
Shikamaru sat up and once again, the dizziness fell over him, "I have to get out of here"  
"The door has disappeared and-" Gaara was cut off by a distant sound of laughter, "do you hear that?" He asked Shikamaru who only shook his head, not that Gaara could see anyway, "it sounds like laughing"  
"Is it Naruto?" Shikamaru could only hope to god that it was, but he truly doubted it.  
"No...its a child, shh! Its getting closer"  
"Stop it!" Shikamaru yelled, once again clenching on to the red head's arm.

Within five minutes the child was close, very close and the same thing that happened to Naruto, happened to Shikamaru and Gaara, only they kept their voices. A strange soft, dim glow entered the room and a child was seen.  
"Who are you?" Gaara asked, getting to his feet, pulling Shikamaru up with him.  
"That's what I should be asking," The child frowned at the red head, "you were never invited, brother will not be happy"  
"Brother?" Gaara wondered how many...things lived in this building.  
"But you," The child pointed at Shikamaru, "my brother will have you," he began to laugh and roll on the ground but he stopped suddenly and sighed, "I will have to do something with you," he faced Gaara with a thoughtful expression on his face before smiling and snapping his fingers. The arm that Shikamaru was clenching disappeared and Gaara was gone.  
"Bye!" The child waved at Shikamaru and began his way through the building, taking the light with him.  
"Wait!" Shikamaru started but it was too late, "WAIT!" He yelled again, but he was all alone, screaming at no one.

**TBC**


	5. New Acquaintances

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Naruto...Never have...Never will cry  
**Warnings** - AU, some OOC-ness...I try!

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**V - New Acquaintances**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

_/"Bye!" The child waved at Shikamaru and began his way through the building, taking the light with him.  
"Wait!" Shikamaru started but it was too late, "WAIT!" He yelled again, but he was all alone, screaming at no one./_

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

DRIP DRIP DRIP

In this ominous building, Gaara could feel that he was in a different area, although he couldn't see anything and the dripping didn't sound any farther or closer, the dank air seemed thicker and the liquid that was below his feet now seemed gone.

"Shikamaru?" He asked the darkness, wondering if his friend was also sent to this area, but no answer came. "Naruto?" But still, no answer, he was alone and he guessed the other two were in the same predicament. What was going on? What was this feeling? Every hair on his body seemed to stand up and his heart rushed hard against his chest, but there was no fear. The only slight fear was for Shikamaru and Naruto who could be in grave danger.

"NARUTO! SHIKAMARU!" He yelled, but this time, there was no echo to follow. He wandered around to try and find his bearings. Soon he found that he was in a room, a room with no door. If there was a door, he sure as hell couldn't feel it. This was not good.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

The small child swiftly glided through the hallways, the green light following him. He turned a corner and then another corner, went up some stairs and within ten minutes he came to a red wooden door that was rotting and could easily be torn down. Sweat dripped from his face as fear clenched his throat.

"Brother?" He whispered in a timid voice. He wasn't laughing this time, but on the verge of tears. The door swung open and he entered the room as if he was being pulled. Red eyes met his black ones.

"Tell me little brother, did you get what I asked for?" The smooth luring voice asked the frightened child.  
"Yes...I got it," he pulled out the small jar and it slowly floated to the hands of the red eyed terror.  
"Very good, and the other one"  
The child forced a small smile, "he's on the verge of insanity"  
"Now tell me Sasuke-kun," the voice seemed to get hostile, "who is the red head? I don't remember sending for him"  
"I-" Sasuke gulped knowing what his brother was thinking, "I swear I don't know brother...I swear I didn't send for him...you should know I am too weak to do things like that..." The boy was trembling.

Itachi stared him for a moment with doubt in his eyes, "what did you do about it"  
Sasuke once again forced a smile, "I sent him to section E, room 3," he tried to keep a proud demeanor, but it was hard under the cold eyes of his brother, "very well, you seem to have done well."

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Shikamaru closed his eyes and sank to the floor wrapping his arms around himself, off in the far distance he could hear Gaara's calls, but fear caused him to keep silent. He began rocking back and forth, "I cant take this, I cant take this," he began to chant, he should have never come, he should have never taken this assignment. Just a moment ago he was sitting by a fire enjoying food. It may be my last meal, he thought to himself while rocking. "I can't die, I can't die."

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Gaara paced back and forth as terrible thoughts entered his mind. Who was that child? He remembered hearing Naruto call out for him, but it was interrupted, and since then, he had heard nothing but the laughter of the child and this damn dripping. After tiring himself with pacing, he sat down, putting his back to one of the walls, what was he going to do? How would he get out of here? Thoughts of various things flashed through his mind about Naruto. He could have been killed, or taken somewhere. Maybe they were all in their own separate cells. That's what this had to be; it had to be a cell. How long could he last in here without fresh air, sun, food and water? What would happen? What about Naruto?

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Naruto climbed the staircase that never seemed to end, every once and a while feeling the entire thing shake under his feet as if it was going to give way. During these times he would stop everything and wouldn't dare move a muscle. He could only hope that he would get to the top of this thing before it collapsed out from under him. How far would he fall before hitting the bottom to meet his end? Not like it mattered much, death would probably be better than whatever fate had in store for him.

While the time passed he enjoyed the light that was given to him and was admiring the various pictures on the wall up the staircase. There were no pictures of people, but instead, pictures of beautiful landscapes.

Trees of red and yellow mixed with a tad of lime green. Naruto had been a lot of places for his job, but never, ever had he seen such beautiful trees. For a while, he wondered what and where these were taken. If he ever gets out of this alive, he would have to go see these beautiful woods. Every three steps was another picture, and when he reached the top of these stairs, the pictures seemed to end as well. The last one was the first picture that was not nature, but of a beautiful building, covered in roses and flowers of all kind. Vines stretched out and covered the entire roof. Naruto's eyes squinted at the picture. He had seen this building before, he was sure of it. Actually, he felt as if he had been there, but that could have been from in his dreams as well. Everything seemed to jump out at him, trying to tell him something, something which he could not understand. It was like trying to explain to a two year old the concept of sharing.

Everything he looked at, everything he heard or felt seemed like it happened before. But why? Why the dreams and this mountain? There were so many questions that ran over and over in his mind that he couldn't answer. Who was that child and why had he felt like he had met him before? This older brother and...something else, but he couldn't remember. Why could he not remember until it was too late or had already happened? Maybe he was just going crazy, which wouldn't surprise him considering the situation he was in. But why was there no feeling? No fear or sorrow or even happiness. Too many questions.

Naruto looked around, nothing looked different, but the air seemed thinner and the halls were narrower. He had reached the top of the stairs, but which way was he supposed to go? If he had a piece of paper and a pen, he would make a map as he went, so as not to get lost. The staircase was here, and there were three directions he could now go. He sat himself down to think. His stomach rumbled out of hunger and his throat was stale and dry. He rummaged in his bag once more, when he found that it was still empty, he wasn't surprised. He threw his bag down and marched in one of the directions the hall split into. If he had his voice, he would be mumbling to himself, but that was not the case and he wasn't able to do so, which only made him more frustrated.

Eventually he came to a long hallway with a dozen doors on each side. Naturally, he went to each one and tired to open them. The smell of rotting wood filled his lungs and it was everything he could do to not cough it out. Each door was locked, but each one looked to be disintegrating enough to tear down. It occurred to him that maybe that's what the kid expected him to do, but on the other hand, he didn't want to make the boy upset, so he continued on his way.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Shikamaru sat in the darkness hugging his knees with the tips of his elbows while covering his ears with his hands. He hummed a random tune, trying to flush out the dripping. He kept picturing his bedroom and bed, wishing more than anything that he were back there. Suddenly a thought came to him. Gaara, he must find Gaara. There would be no way of getting out of this place without him. What was he going to do? Sit here for the rest of his living years while insanity took him over? His entire body shook with fear as he forced himself up to a standing position. With one foot after another he began to wander around aimlessly, it still felt like someone was watching him, only this time, it was more intense. Out of instinct, he began to look over his shoulder every few minutes, but to no avail, it was too dark. He couldn't even see his feet when he looked down.

He felt as if something had swallowed him whole and the dripping was a mere heartbeat. Steady and ongoing.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

It was getting colder; Gaara got up and began to move around, attempting to create some body heat. He searched the entire room over ten times trying to find something, anything. But there was nothing but stone, all around him, top and bottom. His stomach racked with hunger and his body ached. Was he to be left in here to die? If not, go insane? He grimaced at the thought and tried his best to push it away by thinking about Naruto and Shikamaru instead. Shikamaru, would most defiantly go insane if he couldn't get to him. Naruto...gods only knew about where that boy would be or who he might be with.

As he was thinking of several possibilities and how he would get out of this cage, a noise overthrew the dripping. It had been several hours, or maybe even days since he was sent to this prison to sit and think alone and the only thing that engulfed his ears were the steady dripping. It sounded like scraping, loud heavy scraping of metal across stone. It sounded as if it were coming closer and closer. His heart raced and his breathing grew faster, his chest seemed to move up and down in incredible rates. Finally, when he was sure the scraping could get no closer, as if it were right next to him, it stopped. He dared not move a muscle.

"Who be in here?" A raspy, broken voice called out to him. It was a frightening voice and once again, Gaara dared not move or make a sound. He held his breath for a long while until his chest screamed for air.  
"Well? Who it be?" The voice demanded, "I know someone be in ere."

Should he answer? Should he try and avoid the voice? He cursed in his mind about how he still, over all this time, could not see even the slightest bit. A strong hand gripped his arm, "there you be. So you tell Lorim, who you be and what are you doing ere?" His accent was strong through the raspy broken voice.

"I..." Gaara tried, "I don't really know, I am here looking for a friend"  
The voice burst out in a fit of laughter, "looking for someone? Your stuck ere in this box and you be looking someone?" His fit of laughter continued, "but, ye have yet to tell me your name lad." He maneuvered his strong grip from the red heads arm to his shoulder.

"My name's Gaara...I have no last name"  
"Hmm, why be that lad? Its sounds pretty suspicious to me"  
"I was born without parents"  
"Born without parents?" Lorim chuckled, "now tell Lorim, how that be possible?" This Lorim person seemed overjoyed to be talking to something other than the stones.  
"Well...I..." Gaara didn't much like talking to this person who he didn't know. Besides, he was telling this man things that only Naruto knew.  
"You what? Don't be standen there with your mouth hanin all a open, answer Lorim's question lad, I be dyin to know how one be born without parents," he chuckled once again.  
"Why should I tell you? Who are you and where did you come from? I've been all over this room and found no doors or windows. Your seem to be the suspicious one," Gaara didn't like this person and there was no way in all of this hell that he would trust him with even just the tiniest bit of information.

"I be Lorim, grand master of this ere castle, it was taken over by a mean man, but that was ages ago..." He paused for a moment, "tell me boy"  
"Gaara," the red head corrected.  
"Sorry, Gaara. Tell me, what year it be"  
"What?" This man was mad, completely mad.  
"Are ye deaf bo...Gaara? I asked what year it be." The man seemed irritated and anxious.  
"Its 1980. What do you mean by, your castle?" What year did he think it was?  
"1980...1980..." Gaara could feel the man get up and heard him begin to walk around, "1980"  
"What about it?" Gaara snapped, "what are you going on about"  
"This ere castle was taken over by that mean man...mean as dogs he is. That was in the year 1843, and ye say that this ere year is 1980?"

"But, that's impossible, you should be dead by now," yes, this man was crazy, completely and utterly crazy.  
"Nay, this ere castle be enchanted by black magic. Black magic it is." He continued pacing back and forth.  
Gaara raised an eyebrow, though no one could see it, "black magic"  
"Aye. That man, he was a magician of sorts when he first came ere. It was that same black magic that took me throne out from under me. He be the son of the devil imself he be."

"Wait a minute," Gaara interrupted, "what your telling me, is that this dump of a building is supposedly your castle, and that it was taken over by a man who uses black magic? I am sorry, but I cant believe that, this is no castle, and there is no such thing as black magic"  
"Then tell me boy, how did you get in this ere room with no doors or no windows? Tell me, how is that I be standin right ere when I should ave been dead a long time ago? Do you use that brain of yours up there?" He began to hit Gaara in the head with some piece of metal.

"For one thing, my name is Gaara, not boy. And yes, I do use my brain, I use it a lot more than most the people I know. Which is why I'm saying that what you're proposing is impossible." His voice was stoic, without emotion, although you would think he was irritated by the words that he chose.  
"Ehh whatever, there be no use arguin with a youngin, now follow me and we'll find that there friend of yours and take this ere castle back," Gaara once again heard the sound of metal scraping against stone, "well, are ye comin"  
"How"  
"Haha! That be the question now aint it? Well don't sit there all day! Come on!"

Gaara got up and began walking around the room until he almost stepped on Lorim, who was not at all pleased about it.  
"Hey watch where ye be walking boy!" He snapped, "we aint got no time to be doddlin around"  
"How am I supposed to see?" Gaara was surprised, could this man actually see in this? His own eyes had always been really good, spending most of his life in dark places, but even this was too much for him.

"Oh...I forgot about this ere darkness, ye will get used to it sooner or later. Me thinks it took about a five year to get used to it. But you seem like a strong and healthy lad, ye might get lucky." He chuckled deep in his throat, "so tell Lorim, why do ye think that the master of this ere castle wants this friend of yours"  
"Who? Naruto?" Why in the world would anyone want Naruto? Sure, he was cute...all be it a little clumsy. And there is that weird vibe that surrounds him.  
"Yes lad, why would that devil of a man want this Naruto friend of yours? No doubt he has some crazy idea in his head. Hell, maybe this friend of yours can stop this ere curse surrounding the castle"  
That gave Gaara something to think about.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Naruto by now was getting a little frustrated at how huge this damned building was. He was also getting tired of running around in circles. Every few minutes, he would find himself in the same place he was, near the stairs where the halls intersected and split into three different directions. Meanwhile, he kept wondering how Gaara and Shikamaru were doing. He figured that Gaara would be fine, and if Shikamaru was with him, then Shikamaru would be fine as well. As for himself, he was in a terrible predicament. He lost his voice, so calling for the two of them would do no good, and he found himself just wandering around in circles. The only thing he had to be grateful for was the eerie green light cast all around him. But what amazed him the most was, out of all the hours or even days that he had spent in this place, he never got tired enough to sleep, nor hungry enough to eat and you would think that with the constant dripping, he would thirst for water, but even that didn't cause him hunger or leave his throat dry. The only thing he wish he had, was his camera, which had somehow disappeared with everything else, that, at one time, was located in his bag. He could only hope that the camera would be somewhere outside this cursed building, but even if that were the case, it would most likely be ruined.

Every now and then he would hear a faint sound, like someone crying, but then it would disappear and be replaced by laughter. The same laughter he heard right before he met that kid. But the crying sounded like it was coming from the same person who was doing the laughing. The next thing he remembered hearing was Gaara's voice calling out his name. This would really frustrate him considering he wasn't able to answer back. Millions of things floated around in his mind and he thought it was kind of sad that the thing he wanted most was his camera. Although the company of Gaara would be great as well, and Shikamaru, he wasn't sure about. Sometimes he would feel bad for the guy, he was always in a bad mood and the blonde somehow thought that this had to do with him. He remembered being young and how everyone thought he was annoying, maybe just being around Shikamaru made his friend nervous and annoyed.

At least he had some kind of clue as to where to go. The top, the top is where he needs to get. The only problem is, so far, he's only found one staircase, and that's because the kid revealed it. He looked strait ahead and noticed that the hallway was coming to an end, but there was no other hallways joined with it. But there was a door, maybe the hallway connected to a big room with some stairs and he could climb higher. But half of him seemed extremely disappointed, if this were just 'some room', then he would have to go and retrace his steps. He sighed as he tried the handle, but yet again, it was locked. This door seemed a bit sturdier, so breaking it down would be a challenge. He looked around and all that stood around him was wall, and behind him, darkness. He frowned, not wanting to waste his time on walking back through the long hallway, so he began to pound on the door with his shoulder, but still, it wouldn't budge, so he resorted to kicking the damned door down.

When the door swung open, a warm sort of air flew over Naruto, causing goose bumps. He stepped a few paces inside and heard the sound of rustling chains and faint breathing. He stood still for a long time until an un-familiar voice, soft and faint began to talk in a calm voice, "who are you"  
Naruto, not being able to answer, slowly began to move near the sound of the voice.  
"Have I died? Are you here to take me to the other side?" His tone was so serious.

If Naruto had a voice, he would clearly state that this person was very much alive, he could tell just by how much warmth was emanating in the room. When he found the young man, he was chained to the wall and his eyes were empty, like there was nothing he could see, or would want to see. But they were open and staring at the floor in front of him. His hair was long, very long and black. It fell over his body in a flowing demeanor. His clothes, if that's what you would call them, where old and torn. If Naruto felt anything at this moment, it was pity for this beautiful blind prisoner. He placed a hand on the shoulder of the young man and began to examine the chains around his wrists.

The young man looked at Naruto, dimming his eyes due to the light around him, and Naruto flinched, was this guy blind, or not? "So your not an angel? Who are you"  
Naruto didn't say anything, but grinned and went back to examine the chains, and the young man went back to looking at the floor, "am I dreaming?"

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Gaara and Lorim found their way to one of the main hallways through the tunnels dug by the old man, and he was mighty proud of it too, the entire time they were in the tunnels the old man wouldn't stop talking about his perfect plan and how he had spent years thinking about it and planning it out, and now, Gaara would help him carry it out. This, of coarse, made Gaara nervous. The fact that the plan was perfect did not interest him, he wanted to know what the plan was, and in his eyes, if it could be done without fail. If this plan was indeed perfect, then Gaara couldn't see the harm in helping this guy carry out the plan. But, for all he knew, there was no plan and this guy was a cook. Even so, he had helped Gaara get out of the cell and back into the hallway, never mind that he couldn't see, he was already used to it and was using his other senses to compensate.

"Now tell Lorim, which way be yer friend"  
"I don't know," Gaara replied honestly.  
"Well how we supposed to fine yer friend if ye don't even know which way he be?" Lorim yelled with his hands in the air.  
"I was near the front door and then, I was in the cell," Gaara tried to explain, not really understanding it himself.  
"Ah, that be that there black magic I was talking to ye about. Well, call yer friends name and see if he might answer," Lorim suggested and Gaara nodded before he began to call out.

**VvvVv**

Shikamaru, being very quiet and still trying desperately to see, was also trying to hear something other than the dripping, anything. That's when he heard Gaara, but the red head was not calling for him, he was calling for Naruto. Not like it mattered, it was someone he knew and he began to run toward the sound of Gaara's voice, "Gaara!" Shikamaru yelled, but he tripped and fell to the ground. When he opened his eyes and gathered his senses, he noticed that he was somewhere else. The dripping was gone, nothing was heard, and the air seemed to be thicker.

**VvvVv**

"Did ye hear that?" Lorim asked, grabbing a hold of Gaara's shoulder, "was that yer friend"  
"No," Gaara stated, not liking how the reply was cut off, "it was Shikamaru."

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

After trying for a long while to get the chains loose, they wouldn't come off, and there were times when the boy beneath him would flinch while he was working on them. This made Naruto feel shaky, he couldn't stand inflicting pain on other people, so he looked down and smiled before sitting down to take a break.

"Thank you, for trying to help me," the young man stated and looked at Naruto, "but I think its no use, I have been here a long time waiting for fate to bring death to me." The young man laughed, "but sometimes, my hopes would peak and I would begin to imagine that fate had other things in store for me. Maybe that's what you are, the last thing in my life before it's over."

Naruto frowned, what the hell was this guy talking about? He would get this guy out if it cost him his life. Naruto got up and began to work the chains once again and the boy under him, once again, flinched. But didn't tell the blond to stop, so Naruto continued for a long while.

"Hmm...I don't you will ever get those chains off..." A young voice filled the room, followed by a giggle, "should I help?"

**To Be Continued**


	6. Bound

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**VI - Bound**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

_/"Hmm...I don't think you will ever get those chains off..." A young voice filled the room, followed by a giggle, "should I help?"/_

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Naruto scowled at the child, knowing that he would most likely want something in return. "I am to be released?" The young prisoner asked, looking up at the small child who was glowing the same green as the blond. "I might help you under one condition," the child giggled, remembering his brother's words about the situation.  
"What is it?" He asked, but Naruto shook his head.  
"Oh don't worry Naruto-kun, I wont take his voice, instead I will give you something," he took out a small scroll and opened it, "do you accept my conditions"  
"I haven't heard the conditions yet"  
"I don't have all day, do or don't you accept? If not, then I will leave and take Naruto-kun with me so we can leave you here in this miserable cell." The child began to twirl around on one foot and laugh.  
"I accept," the young man looked at the child, wondering what he would want in return for his freedom.

Sasuke began to read off the scroll and everything around them turned red. Both Naruto and the prisoner gasped for air and the chains dispersed. As both of them could feel their lungs begin to take in air again, Neji looked at his hands, "what happened?"

Sasuke once again began to laugh, "you are now bound to each other. If one of you dies, the other one will die as well. If one of you feels pain, the other one will also feel pain. You can never again live alone; you are now linked through mind and body. You can not and will not live without each other." He turned to Naruto, "I have helped you again Naruto-kun, you should be thankful," Sasuke winked and turned around toward the door, "let's play again soon!"

In a lot of ways, Naruto was disappointed that he failed to get his voice back, but the light was still with him and now he had a companion, so things weren't all that bad.  
"Once again, thank you for coming to save me, my name is Neji, and I suppose yours is Naruto?" He talked in monotone, there was no emotion and Naruto had figured out by now that this guy was not blind. His beautiful eyes remained white to compliment the boy's pale skin and black hair. But he was empty inside.

Naruto smiled and nodded, happy that Neji had caught his name when the Sasuke kid was talking.  
"So I'm assuming that you just arrived here? You don't look like someone who has been here a long time," Neji suggested and he found that he was right. Naruto nodded and grinned. It was very irritating for Naruto that he couldn't speak with Neji, he needed to tell him that they had to get to the top. Naruto got up and walked over to the door waving his hand at Neji gesturing him to follow, "where is it that we're going?" Neji asked while following the blond through the hall. Naruto pointed up.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Gaara was extremely frustrated with the fact that all traces of Shikamaru had disappeared. No matter how much he would yell and scream, there was no answer, just echoing. "It seemed yer friend be some where else due to that there black magic I keep tellin ye about," the old man shook his head, "or maybe the magic magic just done swallowed him up. Or maybe he was put into a cell just like ye were thrown into a cell. There's no tellin what trouble be a brewin."

Gaara frowned, he had thought about all of this before, so these were not new ideas, "we will find them," he replied with venom in his voice. "How long did you say it took you to build those tunnels?" The old man smiled, "it took me neigh a hundred years, me thinks."

That would not do. If the kid were to show up again and place them in another cell they would be screwed, "we need to hurry."

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

DRIP DRIP DRIP

The dripping remained, always remained. Poor Shikamaru was lost now; he was sent somewhere else at the moment he could have reached Gaara. There was no way that he would ever get out of this building. He laid shaking on the cold stone floor, murmuring to himself about things that his father had told him about the mountain. Slowly, very slowly the dripping and darkness consumed him. Briefly, he wondered in he even existed. No sunshine, no clouds, no trees, just darkness and dripping. Darkness and dripping...darkness...

Suddenly, Shikamaru let out a terrifying scream, he was losing his mind and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Why?" He asked himself, "why?"

**VvvVvv**

Naruto twirled around towards the scream with a look of terror on his face. That voice, it had to be Shikamaru, he turned toward Neji and grabbed the boy's hand, dragging him in the other direction. Neji got the hint and tried to keep up, he cursed his legs for being so frail due to sitting in that one position for gods only knows how long. Actually, he was amazed and proud that he could even run in this state, "is that a friend of yours we just heard?" He asked, wondering if they were running right into a trap. Naruto didn't have the time to think about how he would respond to the question without his voice so he concentrated on getting closer to the area where the scream came from. If Gaara heard it, he would probably do the same thing.

"SHIKAMARUUUU!" He could hear Gaara's voice echoing coming from all directions confusing his senses. Seeming as how he could no longer hear Shikamaru, he would find Gaara first and then they could both look for Shikamaru. He looked at Neji, of course Neji! Naruto pointed at him and then put two hands next to his mouth and opened it like he was yelling then pointed to Neji again, maybe he would understand.

Neji watched Naruto wondering what the hell was going on, but then understood. He nodded and then yelled out, "Hey! Over here!" And looked at Naruto. Naruto nodded his head, proud that he had got his point across even without his voice...which didn't happen every day. Neji proceeded to yell out louder and louder. Then he stopped, to maybe hear something back, but no answer came, he looked at Naruto with question in his eyes.

Naruto flinched, he forgot about that, Gaara doesn't know Neji, he's probably wondering who's yelling out for him. Naruto looked at Neji wanting him to continue yelling. Neji rolled his eyes and once again, began to yell out for someone who he didn't even know.

**VvvVvv**

"Ah! That be yer friend yes?" Lorim asked Gaara with an exited tone.  
"No," Gaara stated, that was neither Naruto nor Shikamaru. Since Shikamaru's scream, he had heard nothing of Shikamaru, and Naruto, he had no idea where Naruto might be.

"Well, I be exited, lets go to see who be callin," Lorim began to venture in the direction of the voice that was calling. Gaara was not so sure that this was a good idea; they were on thin ice as it was without going to look for trouble. But there was nothing he could do, he had to follow Lorim or he would get lost in the darkness, so he followed.

**VvvVvv**

Neji needed some air so he stopped and sat down on the opposite wall of Naruto facing him.  
"I wonder what that kid meant by we are bound. That if one of us dies, the other will...how is that possible?" A lot of Neji wondered if the kid was just messing with their minds. But it did seem strange that he could easily tell what Naruto was most likely thinking or planning. It was amazing how they were able to communicate with out the use of too many words, "fate has led me in an interesting direction."

Naruto pondered the question as it was asked to him, was this a good thing? Or a bad thing? There were a lot of good aspects about it...but how long would it last? Would he really spend the rest of his life with this person? Maybe this Neji guy was intolerable to be around and in the end they would all have to kill each other. But could a tiny 'spell' really be that powerful? Or was it like Neji said, maybe Sasuke was just messing with our minds. He could only hope so.

"Who be there!" A voice yelled through the hallway, both Naruto and Neji stood up, facing the direction the voice.  
"Who are you!" Neji asked back, now he was confused, this was the third voice he had heard within the last fifteen minutes and all voices were different. He looked at Naruto and then back in the direction of the voice, it didn't look like Naruto recognized this voice.

"It be me Lorim and this ere friend of mine Gaara!" The voice answered back and Naruto's face brightened up. A huge smile crossed his face and it was everything he could do to not begin jumping up and down. Neji noticed the excitement in Naruto and called back, "Naruto is down here and wishes to see you!"

**VvvVvv**

Gaara did not like this situation. This mysterious person who still did not give a name is telling us that Naruto is down there. Yet not once did Gaara hear Naruto, if Naruto was indeed down there, then wouldn't he call? It felt like a trap, like maybe he should turn around and ignore this voice, but Lorim smiled.

"Me wonders who this Naruto is," the old man turned to Gaara, "we should go down there and meet the lad aye"  
"Naruto is a friend of mine," Gaara informed the old man.  
"Ah! All the more reason to go down there!" Lorim began to trot down the hallway and Gaara slowly followed, getting ready for anything.

As they continued down the hallway, Gaara spotted something light green jumping up and down, right then, he knew it had to be Naruto...or something mimicking his movements. When they began to get closer, Gaara noticed that the light green was in fact, Naruto and he was jumping up and down waving his hand, but why was he not saying anything? Usually he would be calling out and loud, but nothing came out of his mouth, even as they both Naruto and the mysterious guy across from him. Lorim covered his eyes, not used to light.

**VvvVvv**

Naruto couldn't be happier, Gaara was here and now they could all find Shikamaru with the help of Neji and...this guy. He turned toward the old man with question in his eyes. Neji bowed, "my name is Hyuuga Neji, I am accompanying Naruto..." he introduced himself in such a proper respective manor, his movements were so smooth and delicate, in Naruto's eyes, it was almost like a dance and he stood staring at Neji, until the old man introduced himself.

"Ah what a nice lad!" The old man smiled and bowed as well, but as if he had a hat in his hand, "I be Lorim, master of this ere castle and-" but Gaara interrupted him, "I am Gaara," he then suddenly turned to Naruto, "did you hear Shikamaru?" Would he talk? Would he answer?  
Naruto nodded and pointed in the direction where they heard the scream. "We heard the scream, and then heard you yell out, the scream came from that direction," Neji explained, turning his head in the direction Naruto was pointing.

Gaara glared at Neji, "what happened to Naruto"  
Neji gave Gaara a curious look, "what do you mean"  
"His voice!" Gaara began to yell, "what the hell happened to his voice"  
"I don't know, he came to me like that in my cell," Neji explained, not moving an inch.  
Naruto nodded vigorously, trying to aid in Neji's story, which was all truth.

Gaara eyed Neji for a while before Neji turned around, "we don't have time for this, shouldn't we be looking for that Shikamaru kid"  
Naruto once again nodded, he was impressed with how well Neji caught names. He reminded Naruto of the princes in the movies; he acted so aristocratic, especially when dealing with other people. For a while, Naruto wondered why Neji didn't act like that too much around him. Although in the state that he found the poor guy in, who cares about acting all diplomatic.

No one said nothing more but moved in the direction of the voice. Gaara was very pleased for the first time in a long while, he was able to see due to Naruto's strange light that never seemed to leave. It had a warm feeling about it, like there was nothing to fear if the light was near, which was weird for Gaara, he always liked the dark and dark things. Bright things made his eyes hurt and would leave him with a headache. But everything was so awkward; it was weird walking with Naruto in pure silence. The blond did not like silence and would break it every time it would come upon them. But now, he just seemed to be smiling as he walked forward, Neji right behind him. Gaara glared, there are lots of things that went on that so far, and he hasn't been informed of. He didn't want to ask the Hyuuga anymore questions, like he could believe a word that comes out of that mouth of his anyway.

Once they all reached the end and turned to the left, another hallway appeared before them, but this one was lined with doors. Naruto ran ahead and began opening every door; he would break it in if he had to. They needed to find Shikamaru, then they could figure out a way out of this damned building. Everyone began helping at once, working on every door in the hallway. But every single one of them turned up empty.

"It looks like this ere allway be the wrong one!" Lorim shouted to the others as he opened the last door.  
"True, all of these rooms are empty," Neji looked at Naruto, "but this is just the first hallway, we should probably proceed"  
Naruto nodded and began to lead the way once again, they spent hours looking, hallway after hallway. Sometimes, Naruto began to think he was leading them around in circles until Gaara would find a closet, or Neji would find some weird room with what looked like very old things in it. But it was Naruto who actually found the right door. Trying the handle first, he could hear someone muttering on the other side, he began to kick down the door and yell for his comrades. They all entered the room and found Shikamaru curled up in a ball in one of the corners.

Naruto ran to his side and sat the boy up, but Shikamaru was in a state of shock and panic, mixed with a bit of terror. Tears streamed out of his widened eyes and down his face. His body shook as he stared at nothing rambling to himself, "no little Shikamaru, you don't want to go," he mumbled in a soft voice, "its cursed that mountain...cursed..." Naruto shook Shikamaru and Shikamaru faced Naruto, putting his hands on his shoulders, "no! You can't go! It's cursed!" He began to yell, shaking Naruto in return. Everyone behind Naruto watched, wishing they weren't there to see Naruto's friend go insane. Naruto slapped Shikamaru a few times, each time harder than the last one.

"NO!" Shikamaru screamed and threw himself to the other wall, chest heaving up and down he looked around, "Naruto?" He asked, taking a step forward.  
Naruto stood up and smiled at Shikamaru before waving. Shikamaru looked at Gaara, "and Gaara? But who are the other two?" He looked at the other two people who he had never seen before slumping to the ground to hug his knees, "you...you guys don't know...I thought I would never see another living soul again, I thought I would never see day, or the clouds or-"

"You got lucky," Sasuke's voice filled the room and he appeared by the door, "we were not expecting you to gather up so quickly. The child looked at Lorim and Neji before smiling. "I see that you now have two people in your group that can see in the dark," he flew up to Naruto so he was inches away, "I guess that means that I have to take this back," he smiled into Naruto's eyes before the light went out and everything went dark, "don't worry, I will give you your voice back."

At once everyone could hear Naruto choking and Neji fell the floor clenching his throat, what the hell was this? Why couldn't he breathe? Tears began to flood Neji's eyes as he gasped for oxygen but found that there was none. He began to get lightheaded and he could feel his heart beat slower and slower as he fell to the ground. When Neji awoke, he found Naruto sitting on the floor with everyone around him; he was explaining and talking about what had occurred since he found the building. So it was true, the child did give back Naruto's voice. Neji was pleased that it suited the blonde; he was never able to fit a voice in his mind that would match Naruto. It seems that fate was better at deciding those types of things. He could tell by the distant look in all three, Naruto, Gaara and Shikamaru's eyes that they couldn't see a thing. But Lorim, he could see just as well as Neji. This would make things difficult.

"Did the child leave?" Neji asked, looking around the room.  
"There you are Neji!" Naruto blurted and turned his head in the direction of Neji's voice.  
"The child seems to be gone for the moment," Neji stated, looking around the room, "first off, do we have everyone?"

Everyone who was present spoke, "yes, we're all here Neji-san," Naruto smiled, happy that they were all back together.  
"Just Neji...unless you would like me calling you Naruto-sama," Neji smiled slightly as he watched Naruto's expression turn into a disgusted one, "no no, don't call me that...its just Naruto."

Gaara frowned, "you still have yet to tell me who this Neji is and where you found him"  
"I helped him escape his cell," Naruto pronounced, making it sound like it was more then it was, "he's a good guy and I trust him"  
"Aye," Lorim joined in, "he be a nice lad"  
"I'm just happy I have my voice back," Naruto laughed, "although I cant see."

Yep, that was Naruto all right, even under some of the most tense situations; he would always hold a smile and keep going. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid; he just didn't care about his fear. He didn't like to watch people suffer, under any circumstance. Shikamaru sat very close to both Naruto and Gaara so he wouldn't get left behind or teleported without his knowing it. Naruto's happy mood and Gaara's confidence helped him calm down and soon; he wasn't even so much as shaking.

"So all that's left is to find a way out," Gaara stated.  
"No, the kid said that his big brother wanted to see us..." Naruto wasn't sure if he would let them go without a meeting first.  
"Well, if he wanted to see us, why wouldn't he come to us himself? Why must we seek him out?" Gaara did not like the idea of meeting the older bother of this Sasuke child, "I don't see why we cant just find the exit and leave."

Neji put a hand to his mouth as if he were thinking, "no, I don't think he will let us leave until we meet him. We should defiantly seek him out"  
"Aye! I'm with the Neji lad! Then we can take this ere castle back from the treacherous rouge!" Lorim cheered, liking the idea more and more.  
"But it will be difficult considering Naruto, Gaara and Shikamaru can not see," Neji pointed out, "I think Naruto will be fine with me and Gaara will do good with Lorim, but what about Shikamaru? I suppose he could hold on to either Naruto or Gaara. I doubt we will have to sleep much, but we will find this big brother of Sasuke." Naruto smiled, the more he was around Neji, the more he respected the guy.

"Okay this is how it will go," Gaara chimed in, "Neji will lead the way then Naruto will be behind him. I will follow Naruto and Lorim can follow me, Shikamaru can put himself where ever he wishes, I don't care." Gaara was not about to trust Naruto with Neji alone, he didn't trust Neji one bit, there was something that both Naruto and Neji were keeping hidden, whatever it was, he didn't like it.

Shikamaru vouched to be in-between both Naruto and Gaara.

"We've lingered here far too long, we really should get going," Neji began to get nervous in this cell; he didn't like the idea of just waiting for someone to close and lock the door. Soon they were all on their way in a single file, Neji in the front and old Lorim in the back. For hours and hours they walked, not getting too tired they only rested a few times. Sometimes they would chitchat about various things, Naruto and Neji mostly, with Lorim to chime in. But the rest of the time they traveled the long hallways in silence.

"We need to head up to the top, Sasuke said that his brother was at the very top of the building," Naruto said quietly, trying to get used to the darkness once again, he had become way too accustomed to the light. Now that he didn't have it anymore, he would have to get used to the darkness once again. Really, that Sasuke kid did more harm than good. Neji responded to Naruto and at once began to look for a staircase. But hours went by and no staircase was found. Each one of them was beginning to think that maybe they were on the top floor, or maybe there was no way to get there. Finally Neji spotted one and informed the rest of the group.

As they walked up the staircase, Naruto wondered if maybe this staircase was like the last one he climbed with the pictures, "Neji..." Naruto began, "you can see right"  
"Hai," Neji answered, wondering where this conversation was going.  
"Can you tell if there are any pictures on the wall next to us"  
Neji said nothing for a while but soon answered, "yes, there are pictures that line all the way up this staircase"  
Naruto beamed, "what are they pictures of"  
"They are pictures of this castle and the surrounding areas before it was taken over, they were taken in the early spring so not all the leaves are fully grown in," Neji explained what was on the pictures with a nostalgic tone in his voice.  
"The last pictures I saw were taken in the fall, I had the most strange feeling that I had seen the place before...but it would have been impossible," Naruto tried to explain, knowing that no one would have any clue what he was talking about.

"This castle is cursed Naruto, you could feel or begin to think anything and It may or may not be reality. For instance, this Sasuke kid could just be part of the curse, for all they know, he might not even exist. Or we could also be experiencing fragments of the past trapped in-between the curse." Neji had a lot of time to think about these things, "the fact remains that we are still in this building, therefore we remain entwined with its curse."

"But the entire mountain is cursed...and I had been having dreams for weeks before I even knew I would be here!" Naruto could swallow the fact that the building was cursed, but he knew that it didn't stop there. There had to be a way to stop the entire thing and bring life back to the mountain. Also, this Sasuke kid had to be real, he could feel the child's sorrow and playfulness, he could see the slight glimmer of hope in the child's eyes, no the child was no fake.  
"I was just giving you things to think about."

**To Be Continued**


	7. Palace Prince

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**VII - Palace Prince**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

_/"This castle is cursed Naruto, you could feel or begin to think anything and It may or may not be reality. For instance, this Sasuke kid could just be part of the curse, he might not even exist. Or we could also be experiencing fragments of the past trapped inbetween the curse." Neji had alot of time to think about these things, "the fact remains that we are still in this building, therefore we remain entwined with its curse."_

_"But the entire mountain is cursed...and I had been having dreams for weeks before I even knew I would be here!" Naruto could swallow the fact that the building was cursed, but he knew that it didnt stop there. There had to be a way to stop the entire thing and bring life back to the mountain. Also, this Sasuke kid had to be real, he could feel the child's sorrow and playfulness, he could see the slight glimmer of hope in the child's eyes, no the child was no fake.  
"I was just giving you things to think about."/_

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Gaara glared into the darkness, how did this Neji guy know so much? How did he know where the pictures were taken? Was this guy here before the castle was taken over? Or is that the illusion that everyone seems to acquire in this building? That this is some sort of castle and that they've been here for over hundreds of years. Now he was convinced they were crazy, both Neji and Lorim.

Shikamaru didn't want to think about things like that, he was on the edge of insanity already without having to think about what was real, and what was not real. Of course he had already thought about it before, but why linger on things that are just going to make your fears worse? No, he needed to concentrate on getting out of here, he grabbed on to the back of Naruto's shirt so he wouldn't wander off, as far as he could tell, Naruto didn't mind.

"I have to tell you that I don't much know about this mountain Naruto," Neji admitted, "I only know about the building..." his voice drifted.  
"Then how do you know that those pictures are of the building and surrounding areas?" Gaara didn't like how this Neji guy contradicted himself.  
"I have been out of the building a few times...I was born in this castle, but I was never allowed outside very often," Neji explained, "I have spent my entire life here...but it wasn't always like this, it used to be bright and everywhere you looked there were expensive lavish things," Neji looked around, "but its much different now"  
"Ah! So ye be one of me subjects!" Lorim cheered from behind, "tell me lad, what be the name of your father?"

Neji said nothing as if he had never heard the old man until they reached the top of the stairs, "okay, this is the second flight of stairs I've come up...we must be on the third floor," Naruto thought out loud, wondering how many floors this building might have.

"This is the first staircase I have encountered," Gaara stated, "so wouldn't this be the second floor"  
"Nay, we went up one floor while in the tunnels boy, this be the third floor," Lorim patted Gaara on the shoulder from behind.  
"I never remembered going up-hill that drastically..." Gaara murmured, wondering how this old man had managed to dig tunnels through the walls to get to them to the second floor.

"If we are on the third floor, then we have one floor before we reach the top," Neji commented as he turned another corner in the hallways. Actually that wasn't bad at all, "so we're almost there!" Naruto cheered, he was beginning to get a little anxious. He was hoping that this guy that they have to meet would be reasonable and just let them go...but something told him that it wouldn't be easy like that. Something told Naruto that they would have to do something for this guy in order to leave...actually, he knew that's how it would be, but at least he wasn't alone, at least he had friends around him who would support him...even if they all were a but un-stable. But Neji, Neji amazed him, even through all this, even through all the years that he had been left here to die, he had kept his composure, his pride.

"Say, Neji," Naruto began, getting an idea, "how old are you"  
"I was born in the year 1830..." he trailed off, "I dont know what year we are in," he stated, not really careing much about the matter.  
"But that would mean...your over a hundred years old!" Naruto snapped, "how are you able to live that long"  
"I don't know," Neji answered honestly, "the day that this castle was taken over, I stopped ageing."

"Ye not be the only one!" Lorim shouted from behind.  
"I don't believe it," Naruto pouted, "you don't look any older than I do...you don't have one gray hair"  
Neji chuckled at the comment, "well I suppose I should be grateful for that Naruto."

There was a huge possibility that when Naruto was set free and able to leave, Neji would not. The idea of finally dying occurred to Neji and he welcomed it with open arms, he didn't need to live anymore of his nightmarish life, unlike the blond, who had his entire life ahead of him, who was still so young and still had so much to learn. Lorim, he would probably die with the young Hyuuga. Neji smiled softly, at least he wouldn't die alone, and that's more than he ever considered receiving.

As they continued to walk, the hallway seemed to get smaller and smaller, the air began to thin out and no doors were seen. They walked and walked down this one hallway for over three hours. As Naruto was beginning to wonder if there would ever be an end to it, Neji stated that they are about to approach a wall.

"Is there a door?" Naruto asked, hoping to god that they didn't spend all this time to hit a dead end. Neji didn't answer, from where he was standing he could see no door, but that didn't mean that there wasn't one. He figured they should finish walking down the hallway before deciding on what to do.

When they all reached the end of the hallway, Naruto began to get irritated at the fact that Neji had not answered him yet. "Is there a door Neji?" He repeated. For a few seconds there was silence, "no..not exactly..." Neji trailed off, Naruto could tell that Neji was checking out the wall that stood in front of them, "not exactly?" Naruto questioned, was there a door or was there no door? It was a simple question, or maybe they were stairs, "stairs?" Naruto guessed, but Neji shook his head, "no Naruto...but there is a small hole, I'm not sure where it leads though. It might not be such a good idea to try it."

"A hole?" Gaara asked, ready to turn around and go the way they came.  
Naruto scratched his head, "well, what does everyone think? Should we go back? Or should we try this hole? How big is the hole Neji"  
Neji paused for a moment, "it's a bit too small to stand up in, but we could crawl comfortably...as long as it doesn't get any smaller as we go"  
"If it gets smaller, we can always turn around," Naruto pointed out.

"Maybe," Neji stated, "do you want to try it"  
"I am not going in there," Shikamaru stated in a deadpan serious tone, "lets go back"  
"I'm with Shikamaru, I don't think its a good idea," Gaara did not like the idea of being stuck in a tiny tunnel.  
"But what if it's the only passage to the top?" Naruto whined, "we should at least try it first, or I will try and then yell out to you once I get to the other side," Naruto grinned at his wonderful idea and stepped forward to try the hole.  
"Let me go first Naruto, since you cant see," Neji grabbed Naruto's arm and went into the small passage that led to who knows where, "okay Naruto, you can come now," he called once inside.

Naruto crouched down until he was on his knees and then began to feel around for the hole, "this way," Neji said, hoping Naruto would catch which way his voice was coming from. Luckily Naruto caught it and they were both crawling down the small passageway. The 'tunnel' was a lot better than Naruto had thought, he had figured it would be swarming with spider webs and everything would be cramped, making it hard to breathe. But there was plenty of room, and so far he had yet to feel or come across one spider web, "it's not so bad," he commented to Neji, who didn't say anything in response. "I wonder how long it goes...should we call out to Gaara and Shikamaru before we get out of hearing range?"

Neji stopped and sat with his back against the tunnel wall, "yeah, just stop here until they catch up"  
Naruto began to yell out and then he also sat with his back on the opposite wall as Neji, "its kind of nice here...you don't feel so exposed, and the dripping is much more faint."

"True, but you feel more trapped...its worse here than it was in my cell," Neji replied non-chalantly.  
"You don't seem to be un-comfortable," Naruto commented with a smile.  
"I'm not, I lived in that room for over eighty years. It doesn't bother me anymore, its just...normal."

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Gaara glared in the direction of the hole. Now they were in a position where they would have to crawl into that damn tunnel, and Shikamaru didn't sound to thrilled to try it out. The red head had a bad feeling about this, something about it made every hair on his body stand on end and all of his instinct told him to turn around and go the other way. But why did every time this instinct would creep up upon him, he was in a trapped position?

Shikamaru shook his head, "I'm not going in there, Gaara tell them to come back," there was nothing that nobody could do to make him crawl into that hole. Lorim stepped forward and crawled into the hole, "this be the way lad," he called to Gaara, "we aint got all night!" Lorim snapped, wanting to hurry up and get this over with.

"No Gaara!" Shikamaru snapped, tugging on Gaara's arm, "we're not going in there! Call Naruto back!" He ordered in a panicked tone.  
Gaara closed his eyes, attempting to cool his nerves, "Lorim, you go on ahead and tell Naruto that we will wait here for a while longer."

Lorim nodded and headed on down the tunnel, "I understand how you feel," Gaara began, but Shikamaru interrupted him, "no you don't...you have no idea, I can not go in there Gaara! You...you might be able to tough it out, but I cant do tight spaces...I almost went insane in that room...I cant do it," Shikamaru wiped the sweat from his forehead and began attempting to slow his heart rate, 'I'm not going in there."

Gaara sighed at the situation they all seemed to be put in by none other than Naruto and that Neji guy. "Naruto," Gaara yelled down the tunnel, "Shikamaru will not go through here. Come back and lets see if we can find another way." He waited a while and could hear his voice travel down the tunnel, but no one responded, "Naruto, can you hear me!" He yelled a little louder, figuring that maybe they were too far down the tunnel to hear him the first time. But still, Naruto did not respond.

Gaara turned to Shikamaru, "is he coming back"  
"No one answered," he replied, walking closer to Shikamaru's voice, "what do you want to do"  
"Let's just wait a while," Shikamaru answered, "they might already be on their way back through."

Gaara said nothing and leaned against the wall, this was insane! Naruto was not coming back down through the tunnel and he knew it. No, something else had happened and he wasn't going to find out by standing here, but he decided to wait for at least a little while, if anything but to satisfy Shikamaru. If he had to, he would drag Shikamaru down the tunnel kicking and screaming, he could care less about Shikamaru's fears if something bad was happening to Naruto.

"I don't think they are coming," Gaara said as he began to grow impatient, "I have a bad feeling Shikamaru, I think something happened to them"  
"All the more reason to not go in there," Shikamaru shuttered at the thought of what might possibly be on the other side, if there even was another side to the tunnel.  
"Shikamaru, either I leave you here to rot or you try the tunnel," Gaara figured that he couldn't possibly be more blunt than that, but Shikamaru didn't budge.  
"Then you do what you have to do," he looked up into the darkness, "but I cant do it, I wont do it Gaara, I guess this is goodbye"  
Gaara once again closed his eyes to calm his nerves.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

"Who are you?" Naruto asked in a deadly voice, disturbed at the vibes emanating off the guy.

Red light tinted the room all around them, making it look as if they were in an oven. The temperature seemed cold though, piercing their bodies like pins and needles. The tall man with long black hair smirked at the blond, "ah, I have been waiting for you Uzumaki," he then turned his head to the Hyuuga, "and your highness," he bowed before Neji, glaring into his white eyes, "I see that you have found yourself a pet, but you need to understand, that this one is mine," Itachi glared at the small child who hid himself in the dark corner.

"I have no time for your games Itachi," Neji spat, "you lock me in a cell for hundreds of years, kill my entire family, and you dare to talk to me as if none of it had happened? I am no longer willing to play or go along with any of your games. I'm here to take the castle back from your evil rule. I will never again be tricked by your words." Lorim cowered behind Neji, but the Hyuuga paid the old man no mind. Itachi began to laugh, "I must admit sire, your sense of humor has not diminished."

"Sire?" Naruto asked, looking to Neji, whose eyes were glued to Itachi, "what does he mean by Sire"  
"Oh, so I see that you have not told anyone," Itachi grinned, "so he doesn't even know that he is nothing more than just one of your mere pets"  
"That was a long time ago," Neji's scowl grew deeper, "I am no longer a spoiled little prince. But I see that you have not changed one bit"  
"Very true, I am not a person agreeable to change," Itachi almost seemed to be dancing around the room, as if he hadn't had this much excitement in a long time.  
"He doesn't get out much...eh?" Naruto whispered to Neji.  
"No one does little boy," Itachi stopped and turned his attention to Naruto, "so, let me see what I have summoned to my doorstep." The young man began to circle around Naruto looking very pleased with himself, "no one here leaves," he repeated, "but that's why your here," a shimmer of excitement gleamed in Itachi's eyes and for a slight second, Naruto saw red.

Extreme deja vu.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

"Gaara, what are you doing?" Shikamaru tried to loosen Gaara's grip on his arm until he figured out what was going on. Gaara was dragging Shikamaru closer and closer to that small hole, "no! Stop it Gaara, I can't go in there!" Shikamaru began to desperately try and wiggle his way out of Gaara's grasp, but to no avail, "no!" He screamed as Gaara shoved him into the hole.

Everything seemed to close in on him and all he could do was kick and scream, "no, stop it! Get me out!" But Gaara continued to shove him farther in.

"Shikamaru!" Gaara snapped, yanking on his ankle, "calm down and keep going"  
"No, I cant..." Shikamaru's breathing grew rapid and tears continued to stream down his eyes, "please, no, god..."

A few more pushes from Gaara and Shikamaru could no longer see where they had entered. That was it for him he would go no further. He had to get out, the only thing he needed to do at that very moment was break through. So at once he began to punch and kick the stone walls around him, no longer aware of Gaara's presence behind him.

**VvvVvvVvvVvvV**

Everyone standing within the red tint could hear Shikamaru's screams coming from down the tunnel. Itachi smiled and moved his gaze from the blonde, to the tunnel entrance, "Sasuke!" Itachi snapped, raising a hand for the child to draw near. Sasuke stepped forward, head bowed, "they are being quite loud, please shut them up until we finish our little meeting. But the red head, bring him to me, I wish to see him."

Neji's lip curled at hearing the end of Itachi's sentence, "what's wrong my old friend? Suspicious of the mysterious red head?  
Itachi also smiled and looked at Neji, "indeed, this person has interested me from the moment he stepped foot on my mountain, but for some reason," he turned and looked at Naruto, "I have been un-able to see him."

Sasuke nodded and faded away, a few seconds went by and Shikamaru was no longer heard, Itachi smiled, "that's better"  
Naruto frowned, "what did you do?" Itachi gave no answer, but seemed to be waiting for something. Sasuke appeared once again, only a very mad looking Gaara was seen standing next to him, "Gaara, where is Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, surprised to see Gaara without his friend.

Gaara also said nothing, but kept his eyes glued to Itachi.  
"So you are Gaara?" Itachi questioned, looking at the red head in the same manor at which he was looking at Naruto.  
"There is something strange about you,'' he looked from Naruto to Gaara, as if trying to put something together.  
Neji sighed, "you have grown quite boring," his voice was that of royalty, everything about Neji's manner had changed and transformed into the noblest of creatures. The Hyuuga's grace caught everyone off guard and no longer was anyone looking at Itachi, but at the rightful heir and ruler over the mountain.

"Its no matter," Itachi waved a hand, "I will put it together later, for now we have more pressing matters," he walked to Naruto, their eyes locked, "you," he began, "you are the key, but the door will only open when you have found all three."

Naruto looked at him in question, having no idea what he was talking about, Neji's voice once again filled the room, "I have already told you Itachi, I am not here to play your games." Itachi turned to Neji, "of coarse your not sire, you are here to protect and watch over Naruto," then at last he turned back around to Gaara, "and I will leave you with the children," Shikamaru appeared next to Gaara, more shaken than any of them had seen him yet. "Lorim, I suggest that you not leave this red head's side, you wouldn't want me to find you alone ne?" Itachi cocked his head to the side as if he were talking to a child and Lorim nodded, cowering further behind Neji.

"Sasuke, you may leave them with the light," was his final words before fading into nothing.  
Sasuke said nothing, but cast the light around the group of them, "your brother sure is nice," Naruto commented before Sasuke also took his leave.  
"What the hell is going on?" Gaara demanded, not happy that he was only here for the last half of it all.  
"Neji really is the prince and this really used to be a castle!" Naruto cheered, "but what does that Itachi guy want"  
"Itachi wants us to break the curse," Neji explained, sitting down to lean on the wall next to him, he had turned back into simple old Neji and everyone wondered how this humble sweet boy could possibly even be related to royalty, if it wasn't for his looks, Gaara would throw the whole idea in the garbage.  
"But wasn't he the one who put the curse on the castle?" Gaara asked, glaring in Lorim's direction.

Neji sighed, "its a long story"  
"Im in no hurry," Gaara would not be satisfied until he knew the whole story.

Everyone sat down ready to hear the Neji's 'long story,' Naruto was always fond of history, and if all of this was true, than this was history which no one had ever heard before. Shikamaru was still shaking, but he was somewhat content now that he was out of that hole and where some light could be found, but not one sound left his lips. Lorim, also somewhat curious, sat down to listen as Neji began...

**WwWwW**

"Before I was born my father had taken a wife and for many years they tried for a son but to no avail. My father hired the best doctors from over seas and sent them to see why his wife would not conceive. It was at that time when they found she was born with an illness and would never bear children and that it was a miracle that she had even lived as long as she did. Not one month after my father lost all hope and gave up on ever having a child, his wife conceived a boy.

The night that she gave birth, she died. The labor triggered something in her illness that caused her death and for many nights my father mourned over the loss of his wife. Seeing me as her last gift to him, he lavished me with everything any child could possibly want. But by the time I was five, my natural child instincts wondered why I had no mother. There was one time in my childhood where I asked every maid and female in the castle if she was my mother. Every one of them looked at me with sad eyes and forced themselves to say no.

When my father heard about this, he became worried and decided to take a wife on my behalf. The woman that he chose was very beautiful and had the grace of a goddess about her. For a long time we really took no notice of each other, but when I was seven, the woman gave birth to her first child, a girl. She named her Hinata. That's when she began to grow cold and hateful, before the next year went by, she gave birth to a second girl, who she named Hanabi. On Hanabi she absorbed herself, her entire life was spent with that girl and everyone else she shunned. There were times when Hinata and I would sneak out to play, but she didn't want her daughters to have anything to do with me, even if it was just Hinata.

Like I said, I know nothing about the mountain, I was never allowed outside and my father was too busy to ever notice my imprisonment, he figured that she was a perfect mother, seeing how she acted with Hanabi, there was no question, so he never had reason to worry. When I turned fourteen, rumors began traveling around the castle about my father planning to betroth me to some foreign princess. But I was fourteen and had no interests in those sorts of things, so I casually ignored them.

A few weeks after the rumors, I had obtained a wonderful idea, I would not sleep that night and very late, I would leave the castle. I had always heard from the maids that there was a small town not two miles down. So around three in the morning, I snuck out of the castle and went to the town. That night I had more fun than I can ever remember having, so every couple days I would go back. My favorite place to go was the Vermilion Inn, where I would get so drunk, I would pass out on the way home.

On one of those nights, I had met a man who was no older than twenty, he wore fine clothes and smelled of cinnamon. He whispered something in my ear and I laughed at the cleverness of it. That night we drank and laughed and got to know each other. I had never met such a beautiful, clever individual and I knew right away that he must be royalty, so one day I invited him to the castle to meet my father. The moment he set foot in the castle, he fell in love with it. I had lived here my whole life, so I didn't see what was so grand about it.

Everyone who I introduced him to instantly liked him, every woman who passed us in the halls blushed just by being in his presence, he was someone who I desperately looked up to. He was perfect, and as a prince I should be no less than that. When he met my father, they talked of things that I still to this day don't understand. War strategies and politics. When they were done, my father patted me on the back and told the young man to take good care of me.

When my 'mother' walked in, my heart skipped a beat, she would surely throw him out. But her eyes locked onto his and she smiled as a light tint of red colored her cheeks, at once he was at her side, kissing her hand. My father ignored them and she asked me who this young man was. I introduced him as Itachi, although I did not know his last name at that time, my stepmother did not care. She was swept away just by the look of him and could really care less what mere peasants called him, in her eyes he was a god.

Not long after that, he moved into the castle and our bond grew closer. He would take me places and hunting, I would always notice him with my stepmother, him whispering things into her ear to make her blush and giggle. At times it looked as if they were more in love than her and my father. But what they had was not love, he was already weaving his way into the throne, but through her. As a young man I too ignored it, I could really care less about all of that, I had more fun hunting and playing than anything else. Up until that point I never really had any life, but now I felt as if my chain had been extended.

When I turned eighteen, being under Itachi's influence, I was mean, stubborn. I could care less about anyone's feelings but my own. I dove into my own pleasure and greed, I have raped and tortured dozens. But I could never bring myself to take a life, Itachi would do that for me. My father noticed how cold I had become and once again, grew worried. When he went to his wife to talk to her about this, she waved the idea away, telling him that he was thinking too much. One night he had caught me with one of the maids. My father grew outraged and struck me out cold. When I awoke, he was sitting next to me with tears in his eyes, "where did I go wrong?" I could hear him whisper, but I ignored it, outraged that he would dare strike me. I grew contempt for my father that night which Itachi fed at every chance that he got. Within a year, I hated my father and wished nothing more than to see his end. That's when Itachi made his move, at three in the morning he awoke me with a start, "your step mother is with child."

My eyes jolted open, "again?" But it had been years since she had a child, the last one being Hanabi. Itachi smiled and grabbed me by the wrist, leading me down the hall into her room. There she lay, sprawled out on the bed with tears in her eyes, "what's going on?" My mind could not quite grasp the situation.  
"Ah your highness, you're looking beautiful tonight," Itachi took a step toward my stepmother before she glared at him, "stay away from me!" She screamed. Itachi bowed low, "as you wish."

He slowly turned to me and began to explain that the child with whom she held was of his blood. And because of this, there would be problems. "My father," I murmured under my breath, the word itself tasting foul on my tongue. "Hai," Itachi curtly responded, turning back to my stepmother. I knew it would not be long before my father would return, and all I could think about was blood. But why blood?

Someone would die.

Every minute that passed felt like an hour, and right before sunrise, Itachi turned to me and asked, "have you ever wondered what it would be like to fuck your own mother?" My eyes widened at the words that left his lips. What was he talking about? Was he crazy? I said nothing as Itachi ripped the clothes off my crying step mother, and as I watched him violate her, tears welded up in my eyes, not that some part of me knew that she deserved every bit of it, it was so cruel, so ruthless, and for the first time in my life, I saw how utterly disgusting the entire act was. And right as my father walked into the room, Itachi killed her, killed her right in front of my eyes.

As my father rushed out of the room, I could hear his cries echoing down the halls. All I could do the entire time was watch with disbelief as Itachi turned to me, covered in blood, smiling, "so far, so good," he cocked his head to the side and began to walk out of the room, my wrist grasped tightly in his hand. He dragged me over the entire castle, killing anyone who was un-fortunate enough to cross paths with him. He had dove into a dream like state of consciences, I'm not even sure if he knows what he did to this day. But the entire time he cursed the fact that he had to kill the woman who would bear his heir. But not that it mattered; women were easy to obtain, but my father. My father needed to die or Itachi would never have the castle.

After killing over half the castle, and my entire family, we finally found my father. By this time I no longer cared about anything, life was over, dreams were over, everything was gone. My father looked at Itachi as if he were about to go into war the young man and then suddenly smiled. As Itachi dealt the final blow to my father's life, a scrawny old woman was seen behind where he fell. She muttered a few words and then extended her arms. As Itachi went to kill her as well, she disappeared, everything went dark and cold in that one minute.

That was the beginning of the curse.

Itachi, in his rage, broke my arm and locked me in a cell as punishment for what my father did. As you can see, this building is no longer beautiful, but dark and dank, un-clean and spooky. No one wants to rule a castle like this. I'm sure that's why Itachi has lead you here, to break the curse so he can have the castle back the way it was. The only problem with that is, it's been over a hundred years and if Naruto breaks the curse, then the idea of everything and everyone fading away is much more likely. But I'm sure he knows this, I can't even imagine what he's planning now, with over a hundred more years of experience."

**WwWwW**

Most everyone sat in amazement at Neji's story, but Gaara still had a few things that he wanted to know, "so we know who you are, and who this Itachi guy is, and why this building is cursed, but who is he?" Gaara pointed to Lorim, "and who is that little Sasuke kid"  
"I don't know," Neji answered honestly, "I have never met Lorim, and I only met Sasuke after I was locked in my cell. All I know is Itachi has been getting stronger and more learned in some areas, but it getting rusty in others. Just like me, besides his looks, his youth is gone and he no longer cares for pleasure and small toys, he probably just wants something different. But I have seen powers from him which I had never seen before, and that frightens me Other than that it seems he is more willing to help than hurt. We are all searching for the same things, freedom."

**To Be Continued**


	8. First Key

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**VIII - First Key**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

**A/N: **Oh No! I have messed up! bows very low When I wrote the beginning of this fic, I knew that I wanted Neji in it, but I wasn't sure how to place him into the story at that time. Then I came up with the idea of him being the prince. I had completely forgot that I had originally written him as a lost friend of theirs. I have fixed this error in chapter 3. If you find ANYTHING that doesn't match up with previous chapters let me know I am so so so sorry for the confusion! And now, here is the eighth chapter. Enjoy!

**WwWwW**

_/Most everyone sat in amazement at Neji's story, but Gaara still had a few things that he wanted to know, "so we know who you are, and who this Itachi guy is, and why this building is cursed, but who is he?" Gaara pointed to Lorim, "and who is that little Sasuke kid"_

_"I don't know," Neji answered honestly, "I have never met Lorim, and I only met Sasuke after I was locked in my cell. All I know is Itachi has been getting stronger and more learned in some areas, but it getting rusty in others. Just like me, besides his looks, his youth is gone and he no longer cares for pleasure and small toys, he probably just wants something different. But now I have seen powers from him which I had never seen before, and that frightens me Other than that it seems he is more willing to help than hurt. We are all searching for the same things, freedom."/_

**DRIP DRIP DRIP**

Naruto liked the idea of everyone working together, he didn't see why everyone should be enemies, whatever happened, however bad, happened a long time ago. It was in the past and nothing that anyone would do or say could change it. The best thing to do is work on the here and now, it was easy for him to say, but he wasn't sure if Neji would feel the same. To loose your family right in front of your eyes...there was no way he could imagine it. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he had a family, more or less to loose them. Really, there was nothing he could say. But he could tell, whatever corruption and injury Itachi left on Neji, was still gaping in size. The pain still throbbing and racking his nerves, it was almost too much for Naruto to take; more or less what Neji had been living with for over a hundred years.

Tears began to flow down Naruto's face and he could no longer keep himself from crying. Everyone stopped to turn and watch Naruto, but only Neji knew the reason why he was crying, "why are you crying Naruto? If you're crying for me, you shouldn't, it's my problem and it happened a long time ago. Its not something you should worry about."

Gaara was surprised, out of everything they had been through so far, everything that's happened to him and everything they have encountered, Naruto hadn't cried once. So why was he crying about Neji's story? To be honest, Gaara was not shocked that Neji lived a horrible childhood and past, he carried himself in that manner, but why would that upset Naruto? Everyone Naruto knew had terrible childhoods and pasts, how was this any different?

Shikamaru and Lorim didn't say a word.

Everyone waited a long while before Naruto stopped his crying, "I'm sorry," was all the blonde could say while trying his best to stop the tears. "Are you okay?" Gaara asked, wondering how long Naruto would keep it up. "Hai, I'm fine"  
"There are three keys we must find, if we are to belive anything Itachi tells us, but what did he mean by Naruto was the key?" Neji didn't like the sound of that and wasn't sure if this plan that Itachi conjured up would be worth it or not.  
"So, the keys are people?" Gaara asked, confused at how that could even be possible.  
"Not necessarily, theoretically a key could be anything, if it is the item that will open what needs to be opened," Neji tried explaining, but everyone was left confused.  
"So what are we supposed to open? If we knew, it would make it easier to find out what the keys are," Naruto asked, figuring Neji might know.  
"Itachi didn't give us that information, I'm sure when we find the keys we will figure out what to open with them"  
"So we're on a wild goose chase over a bunch of keys, when we should be finding our way out of here," Gaara thought all of this pointless, why would they help Neji? If anything, it's Neji who owes his life to Naruto, not the other way around. But that's just how a prince would think.  
"You don't understand," Neji sighed, turning to Gaara, "you can not leave, there is no way out, you can search for hundreds of years, just like Lorim, just like Itachi. But there is no way out."

"Aye lad," Lorim nodded, "many people ave come in, but no one leaves"  
"Well the first thing I'm going to do is stop this dripping!" Naruto yelled to the ceiling. Out of everything, he was most tired of listening to the constant never changing, never-ending dripping. Neji chuckled, "I can't remember the last time it was just quiet, but it doesn't get to me anymore, you just have to learn to block it out"  
"Yes, either that, or just stop the dripping altogether," Naruto grinned, standing up to stretch and everyone followed suit.

"So if I'm the first key, then we only have two more keys left to find!" Naruto immediately transformed from crying and depressed, to happy and energetic. Gaara smiled, same old Naruto, this was why he enjoyed being around the blond so much, he could take any situation and be positive through it all. Neji blinked a few times before shrugging the change in emotion and behavior off.

"We should still get to the top, something tells me that's where the dripping is coming from," Naruto pointed to the ceiling and everyone agreed, once again, following Neji's plan for who goes where.

Neji began to lead the way, "the light makes things easier," Neji commented, happy that Naruto, Gaara and Shikamaru could at least see now. No one said anything for a while, until Naruto agreed, just to break the silence, "a lot easier"  
"It's alright, its kind of gloomy," Gaara commented, "but at least we can see"  
"Aye, the light be a creepy light, but it be black magic, what do ye expect?" Lorim shivered at the thought of being under a constant spell.  
"So this is black magic?" Naruto asked with wonder, looking around at the light.  
"No Lorim, it is not black magic, its necromancy. Itachi draws his power from the dead, but he has a problem, we are in a building in which on one can die," Neji explained, tired on Lorim's babbling. The old man thought that he knew everything, it was sad when he was constantly proven wrong, but Neji thought that he somewhat deserved it, so he reluctantly enjoyed correcting him.

"How do you draw your power form the dead?" Naruto asked, not really sure what to belive.  
Gaara rolled his eyes, "there is no such thing as necromancy Naruto, it does not exist, its impossible to draw anything from the dead"  
"I don't know how he does it," Neji continued, as if Gaara had never said a word, "but when I was young, before my father died, Itachi was always in the graveyards. I once went to ask him about this. He looked at me with pity in his eyes before telling me that he was morning over the lost souls of our mountain. Of coarse, I had no doubts about that he was telling the truth. But the night that everyone was killed, I knew that death was the one dealing death."

Gaara couldn't take it anymore, "for one thing, necromancy does not exist. Do you think that you're making anything better by telling these stories? If they are even to be believed," he turned to Naruto, "and you are willing to listen to his lies?" Neji frowned, "he asked me a question and I answered it, you wanted to know who Itachi was, so I answered it. Do not presume that I enjoy telling any story, for every story that I know is dark and twisted, like the rest of my life. I would like to know...what do you expect out of me?" by the time his last sentence got out, he sounded like royalty once again and everything word that left his mouth sounded like a demand.

"I expect reasonability," Gaara answered in a stoic tone.  
"I am sorry Gaara," Neji's voice held compassion in it, "but that is a thing that does not exist here anymore...maybe it never did"  
"I'm sorry," Naruto answered, wishing that his question didn't start a fight.  
"Don't be, it is a very valid question, you should know what your up against," Neji smiled and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.  
"What is it that you expect? You want Naruto to take Itachi down for you? " Who did he think he was?  
"You need to know this too, if you don't already," Neji sighed, "Naruto, Itachi summoned you here and I don't know why, there is something about you...there's something he wants and I cant even imagine what that must be," Neji's face was disturbed, "Gaara, you are here of your own free will, yet Itachi can not see you and no one summoned you. There is something about you that is very similar to Naruto and Itachi has now become very interested in that, but you have an advantage, he can not see you unless standing right in front of you."

"What about Shikamaru?" Gaara looked at Shikamaru who didn't really seem to be paying any attention.  
Neji looked at the blonde, "most likely, Shikamaru was the source to bring Naruto here. Without Shikamaru, you probably wouldn't even be here right now ne?" Naruto nodded, thinking back on the phone conversation. Neji began to walk again, "any more questions?" He asked in a playful tone, Gaara huffed and Naruto giggled.

For a long while after that Naruto thought about how he was going to stop the dripping. He was hoping that there was a valve of some sort that just needed shut off or something. As they kept going, the walls seemed to be getter further and further apart. Soon, they were not walking down a narrow hallway anymore, but an immense corridor. This was something new and different, but Neji didn't like it. He was in the open...he felt like a lonesome deer in the middle of a wide spread valley, just waiting to be picked off for dinner.

Every step echoed in their ears and not one of them dared to make a sound. The air grew cold and Naruto could see his breath as they walked, the only problem was, it was getting colder, "ne Neji...its getting cold," Naruto pointed out.  
"I noticed..." Neji commented, not wanting to say too much in this situation.

It seemed that every step they took, the colder it became. Naruto was not a person who enjoyed the cold; in fact, it was the one thing that he hated more than anything. Gaara had no problem with the cold like Naruto did, but he would prefer the hot, he was after all, born in the desert and the cold was the farthest thing from that. But he found it weird; the cold was what always made Gaara think of home. Maybe it was because when he's in the heat, its normal and comfortable to him and when he's in the cold, he thinks about how wonderful the heat would be, "it's not getting any better!" He shouted from behind.

There was no wind, no snow, just coldness and the sound of dripping.  
"But I think the dripping is getting louder!" Naruto pointed out, happy they were making some progress.  
"Aye!" Lorim was astonished, "I been in this ere castle fer a long time, never have me ears heard the dripping grow"  
"Well Naruto, it seems we are going the right way," Neji sighed; also happy they were making some progress.  
"I thought we were looking for keys," Gaara didn't see how the dripping would help them find any keys.  
"After I stop the dripping," Naruto explained in a confidant tone, "then we will look for the keys."

The more they all walked, the louder the dripping sounded. "The water on the floor is deeper here than in other areas of the house," Neji pointed out, not that everyone couldn't notice, the water was now up to their ankles.  
Naruto's heart began to beat faster with his anticipation, any minute they would come across a stairway and finally reach the top of this cursed building.  
"Naruto, calm down," Neji turned his head to the side so he could look at the blonde from the corner of his eye, "there is no need to rush"  
"I don't know, I'm exited, and I can't help it. Something tells me that there is something special up there...where the water is coming from.  
"Ah, I get that same feeling, but you shouldn't over exite yourself. What if this 'special' thing is not nice?" Neji didn't like how his heart began to beat faster for no apparent reason, and when it began to irritate him, he figured out that it was coming from the blonde.

Gaara raised an eyebrow, something special? He couldn't help but get the feeling that everyone around him was going insane. But, so far, Naruto had been right about most things. Unless everyone began having that same illusion, the same nightmare. But if that was the case, than why wasn't he going insane? Maybe Naruto just trusts too easily, "how are you doing Shikamaru?" The red head noticed that Shikamaru had not said a word since the Itachi encounter. Shikamaru said nothing, but kept his head slightly bowed.

"Look!" Naruto shouted, just as Neji was about to announce that they found another staircase.  
"What is it?" Gaara wasn't sure by Naruto's tone if they were about to come across something bad, or good.  
"Its a staircase!" Naruto cheered, pointing ahead.  
"But we have a problem," Neji commented, "due to the water flowing down it...it seems rotted and about to crumble apart."

In a way, it was kind of pretty, the water flowing slowly down the staircase made it look like some kind of gothic fountain, but this was much more awesome, considering it was the real thing. Now more then ever Naruto wished that he had his camera. "This would win me the photo of the year at work if I had my camera..." Naruto thought out loud and Gaara chuckled, he looked at the staircase and would have to agree with the blonde, it was a very awesome sight.

"So how do we climb up?" Gaara asked, taking a few steps closer to examine the staircase, "it looks like it might hold us. The problem will be how slippery it is...either way, it will be dangerous," he turned to look at Naruto, "and the stairs seem to go pretty high"  
Naruto frowned and turned to Neji, "what do you think"  
Neji looked up, "its probably the only way up, I think we should give it a try."

More and more Gaara was not liking Neji. For one thing, the red head seemed to somehow get stuck with the crazy man Lorim, and Shikamaru, who were on the verge of insanity. Naruto wouldn't listen to Garra anymore, instead would only take Neji's words to heart. How is this? Naruto had only just met Neji and Gaara had known Naruto for a long time. Naruto is not the type who would just open himself to anyone, yet he opened himself to Neji the moment he met him.

"Stop it!" Shikamaru screamed, covering his ears to block out any sound, "Stop it! Stop it!" He repeated these words over and over again.  
"What is it?!" Everyone seemed to ask, shocked at Shikamaru's sudden outburst. Shikamaru just sat, shaking his head, covering his ears and repeated the words, "stop"  
Gaara walked over to Shikamaru and slapped him across the face, "Shikamaru!" He snapped, trying to get Shikamaru to come to his senses.  
"Gaara!" Naruto snapped, not wishing to see anyone get hit, "don't hit him! It wont make anything better!" Naruto was frantic, Shikamaru was freaking out and Gaara was not making things any better.

Naruto walked over to Shikamaru and knelt down placing a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, "Shikamaru," he said gently as Shikamaru looked up at him with terrified and trembling eyes, "Shikamaru, its okay, everything is okay," Naruto gently took a hold of Shikamaru's wrists and moved them from his ears, then proceeded to stand him up. "Its okay," he repeated, smiling at him, "we will all do this together."

Neji frowned, "come on Naruto, we should get going"  
Naruto nodded, went back to Neji's side and proceeded to talk with him about how they were going to get up these stairs. Garra whispered to Shikamaru, "are you okay?" Shikamaru nodded slightly, eyes still fixated on Naruto.

"Okay everyone!" Naruto cheered, "let's get going! We will go in groups of two, I will go last and alone. So Gaara, your with Shikamaru and Lorim, your with Neji," Naruto smiled, happy that he and Neji came to a reasonable solution to their problem.  
Gaara glared, "why are you the one to go alone"  
"Because it makes things easier, Neji argued with me on this as well, but he finally gave in, I will be fine."

Gaara looked at Neji, but his face held no expression of any feelings one way or the other. "Fine"  
"Okay, so Gaara and Shikamaru, you go first," Naruto moved out of the way and watched Gaara take hold of Shikamaru's wrist to drag him to the staircase. He placed a foot on one of the steps where the water completely drenched half of his leg, he looked at Naruto as if saying, 'you better be right,' and continued up the stairs, dragging Shikamaru behind him. The stairs seemed to go a lot higher than expected and soon Naruto could be heard from the bottom shouting up to the red head.

Gaara shouted back, "we are still climbing," one thing he was extremely grateful for was that Shikamaru had been clam the entire time, not saying a word, but in a way it was almost unsettling how quiet Shikamaru had become. If he wasn't throwing one of his fits, he was so quiet; no one even knew he was there. Shikamaru was never one to yap his mouth, but Gaara had never seen him so quiet.  
"How are you doing Shikamaru?" He asked, but got no answer, he assumed that he was fine, considering he was still climbing at a good pace.  
"Neji and Lorim are coming up behind you, will it hold?" Naruto asked from below.  
"Yes," Gaara answered, it was a lot sturdier than he was expecting.

As Neji and Lorim got onto the staircase, Gaara could feel it move under him with the extra weight, but it still seemed to be pretty sturdy. He was drenched from head to foot and he looked up, seeing that he still had a way to go.

**WwWwW**

Neji and Lorim made their way up the stairs, the water rushing fast past their feet, making the stairs slippery and causing gravity to pull them down. Both of them fought it with each step they took, higher and higher. "Gaara!" Neji called, "call down when you reach the end!" Gaara responded and within fifteen minutes, Neji and Lorim finally heard Gaara's call from the top.

"Alright Naruto!" Neji called down from above, "you can make your way up!" Naruto called back, and just how Gaara could feel the staircase shift under him, Neji now felt the rocking and shifting as Naruto stepped on and began to climb. The climb was long and steady, everyone was dripping wet, which caused them all to be heavier. Neji could hear Lorim pant behind him, "how are you doing Lorim?" Lorim grunted, showing that he could keep going.

**WwWwW**

At first Naruto was exited about the staircase, how it had looked like a perfect gothic fountain. But now he was inside of it, the experience made him bubble full of excitement and joy. "This is wonderful!" Naruto called from below. The sound of the water falling around him was blocking out any sound of dripping. It was a different surrounding and he was more than grateful for it. It seemed like he had been climbing for over an hour, and as he looked up, he could scarcely see Neji and Lorim still climbing.

That's when he could hear Gaara yell something from the top, but his ears couldn't make it out. The sound of rushing water intensified and Neji and Lorim also began yelling, but rushing water soon overpowered their voices and that's when he saw what was going on. Mountain fulls of water were rushing down the staircase at an increasing speed. Naruto had just enough time to brace himself for it, briefly hoping that he would live.

When the water hit him, everything went dark and soon he found himself walking along a single dirt road, just walking, walking, walking.  
"Naruto!" Neji snapped, slapping the blonde across the face.  
Naruto awoke with a jolt, finding himself still on the staircase, Neji's dripping black hair hanging from around his face, "Neji"  
"Don't move..." Neji commented, as he began, with two fingers to press hard in certain areas of his stomach.  
"Okay, your fine, can you stand?" As Naruto nodded, Neji helped Naruto to his feet.  
"Lorim is already at the top with Gaara and Shikamaru, it's not too far now, maybe another fifteen minutes."

Naruto nodded once more and began to follow Neji back up the staircase. Within time, they reached the top and the first thing that Naruto did was plop himself down on the floor to rest for a few minutes. Gaara walked over to him and sat beside, him, "are you hurt"  
Naruto shook his head, "no, I'm just a bit tired"  
"I would imagine," Gaara said in a low voice, "you haven't slept since you stayed with that couple at the bottom of the mountain, you should sleep for a while"  
"Oh really?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look at Gaara, "then tell me Gaara? When was the last time you had a good eight hour sleep"  
Gaara said nothing and Naruto got up to see what Neji and Lorim we're talking about.

"I'm telling you lad!" Lorim pointed a finger at Shikamaru, "there be something wrong"  
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, wondering what they were talking about.  
"We don't have time for this!" Neji threw his hands up and walked up to Naruto, "Lorim thinks that there is something wrong with Shikamaru"  
Naruto frowned, "what's wrong?"

"You really haven't noticed?" Gaara asked, also walking into the conversation, "he is on the brink of insanity. He doesn't say anything Naruto! The only time he says anything is when he is throwing a fit"  
Naruto looked at Shikamaru who was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, they were all still soaking wet and Naruto crouched down next to Shikamaru, "hey Shikamaru!" Naruto smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. Shikamaru looked up into Naruto's eyes but didn't say a word.  
"How are you doing? We're you hurt at all during the climb?" Naruto was going to get Shiakmaru to talk, they were wrong; there was nothing wrong with Shikamaru. But he didn't say a word, just stared at the blond.

"I'm telling you he wont say anything!" Gaara snapped, walking closer, "he's lost it Naruto"  
"Don't say that!" Naruto yelled, sending a glare in Gaara's direction.  
"Naruto," Neji began, "Naruto please..." Neji felt the rage boil inside him, a mixture of rage and denial.  
"What?!" Naruto screamed at Neji, not wanting to listen to anymore bull shit.  
"Naruto we should get going..." Neji began, not understanding, "we need to stop the dripping...ne"  
Naruto's face softened and he stood up, "yeah."

"What we need to do," Gaara interrupted, "is find the keys, so we can get the hell out of here"  
Naruto began to argue with Gaara but Neji interrupted them, "Naruto something's wrong!" Neji shouted, now shaking Shikamaru by the shoulders. Naruto looked over to see that Shikamaru was now ten times paler, "what's going on?" Naruto's heart skipped a beat at what he was now looking at, "he keeps repeating the same words over and over again." Due to how low Shikamaru was whispering, Naruto couldn't make out the words, "what's he saying"  
"...the Key," Neji replied.

Nothing but fear could be seen in Shikamaru's eyes, "Shikamaru!" Naruto snapped, shaking the boy well, but he wouldn't even respond to Naruto. "Shikamaru!" He screamed again, knowing that his voice was not reaching Shikamaru's ears. This time Naruto found himself slapping the boy across the face, but is didn't have any effect. Shikamaru continued to repeat those same two words over and over again.

"He must know where one of the keys are," Neji suggested, not able to come to any other conclusion.  
"How do you know?" Gaara asked, sure that Neji was full of shit.  
"Because it's all he can seen to say," Neji stated the obvious, "come on Gaara, I thought you were sharper than that"  
"Just because it's all he can say, does not mean that he knows where one is. Maybe it's just the idea that scares him."

"The idea of keys?" Neji raised an eyebrow but said nothing more, the idea was completely idiotic, although Gaara probably knew Shikamaru better than Neji ever would, the idea that Shikamaru would be afraid of keys, after everything they had went through was a lot less likely than if he knew where one of the key's were, if he knows, then how? How would he possibly know where one is? Was there any time for him to find it? Did he even look? If he didn't look...did someone tell him? Did Itachi or his little brother come to tell Shikamaru? He knew that all these things must be wrong, there was no way, he had kept an eye of Shikamaru the entire time, there was no time when the boy or his older brother had the chance to speak with Shikamaru alone. If they did talk, it would have had to be telepathically, or maybe he already knew the entire time and until just recently, these memories surfaced.

He could continue speculating for hours, but they were running out of time, he could feel it, "we need to get going," Neji stated again, already knowing the response he would receive. The glares were deep and penetrating and they were coming from all of his companions.  
"We're running out of time," Neji stated in a somewhat panicked tone.  
"How do you know if we're running out of time?" Gaara began to notice that Neji dad a great job at knowing everything when he supposedly knows nothing.  
"I don't know," Neji couldn't explain, not understanding it either.  
"I agree," Naruto, stated, letting his frown drop, "I don't know why, but I get the feeling that we don't have much time"  
"We don't have the time for what?!" Gaara was so irritated that he could slap the blonde, which had never happened since he met his only friend.  
"I don't know!" Naruto snapped, "I don't know Gaara! Stop asking me!"

"We must decide," Neji interrupted, not wanting to hear a fight break out, "which way? Right or left"  
"I get so tired of having to make these damn choices!" He threw his hands into the air, tired of being the one to decide, yet he knew it was his responsibility, "let's go left"  
As Naruto began to walk off in the direction, Gaara stopped him, "Naruto," he placed a hand on his shoulder, "Shikamaru is going right"  
Neji and Lorim then attempted to stop Shikamaru from going any farther but found it was too much of a struggle and found themselves being dragged farther down the hall.  
"Neji, let Shikamaru go, we will just follow him down the hallway, don't disturb him."

Maybe the answer they were looking for relating to Shikamaru lied ahead, down this hallway. Naruto had no objection of going right, to him it didn't really matter, at least now they might get some answers. Shikamaru led the way with Naruto and Neji behind him, while Gaara and Lorim followed Naruto and Neji. Shikamaru said nothing, his skin as pale as a ghost, his clothes dirty and worn. His eyes stared forward softly, as if he were not paying attention to where he was going.

The dripping grew louder with each step, but now, instead of just one drip dirp drip, they were able to hear more intermixing with it. Water rushed silently at their feet, making them miserable as they had been walking in wet shoes for hours now, "we're getting closer!" Naruto cheered, trying to make light of the situation. The only thing he really worried about was Shikamaru, what was going on with him? How did he know where he was going? Surely the boy wasn't in his right mind. There was also something strange about his movements, the young man seemed too stiff, he moves with no motion in his body at all, it was if he were a walking corpse.

"Shikamaru," Naruto whispered, "are you doing okay"  
"Naruto, he's not going to answer you," Garra shook his head, feeling somewhat sorry for the blonde.  
But Shikamaru stopped and turned around to look at Naruto, his eyes still blank and empty, "we need to hurry."

Everyone stared at Shikamaru in shock, his voice was not his own, it was smooth, almost not human. He was calm, too calm. Something was defiantly wrong with him. Since the moment he had stepped foot in the building, every nerve was shot, there was never a calm bone in his body, so what the hell was going on?

"Even before we got on this dreaded mountain, Shikamaru was never one to be calm, he was always up-tight about something, maybe not hysterical, but you were to busy to notice, now we have lost him, its too late to do anything now, we cant even get him to stop walking on this direction, what do you propose we do? Just follow him? He wont even tell us where he is going." Gaara quietly, but loud enough to hear, he was fuming, he knew that more than half the reason why Naruto never did anything about Shikamaru was due to Neji, but what could he do about Naruto? The blond seemed to be somehow bound to his royal Highness Neji, or enslaved, Gaara saw no difference, he was getting tired of being in these situations where there was nothing he could do about anything, it was the most frustrating thing to deal with.

Lorim didn't know what to think about the situation, really, he didn't care one way or the other, and he didn't know Shikamaru or this Naruto kid. Naruto didn't say anything to Gaara, he knew that the words that left the red head's lips were meant for his ears, but there was nothing he could do to help Shikamaru, there was nothing he could say to make himself feel any less guilty. He didn't know if he could have been able to help Shikamaru before it was too late, even he had paid more attention, or cared a little bit more, could he have really prevented this? Naruto didn't know anything at this point and for the first time since he was brought here, he could feel that the knew nothing, this brought with it fear. The only things he knew for certain were that the person in front of him was not Shikamaru and the source of the water was not far.

Anger, hate, guilt, excitement, fear, sadness, along with Neji's own emotions twirled around inside him like a tornado. His heart still pumping fast from mixed adrenaline, "Naruto," Neji clenched his chest, "Naruto, you need to calm down"  
Naruto looked at Neji in question before his face lit up as he remembered something, "I'm so sorry"  
"It's okay," Neji forced a smile onto his face as his heart raced faster.  
Naruto found that it was much harder to get rid of emotions than it is to say that you will, "I'm trying," he looked at Neji, with pleading eyes.  
"Just...think about something else...something that's not going to exite you," Neji explained, knowing that the more you concentrate on your feelings, the more heightened they become. Naruto nodded, "okay."

Dripping soon became overpowered by the sound of steady rushing water; this sound not only overpowered the dripping, but most everything else as well. No longer could they hear their fast paced steps, each time someone would make a sound, it reached no one's ears. "We're here," Shikamaru stated in his calm voice. He turned the corner and opened a small, rotted, wooden door. As they entered into this room, they noticed that they stood on ledges high above mass amounts of water. Gallons more poured down around them from large holes in the walls above them. The air was damp, and within a few seconds, they were all once again dripping wet from the mists that seemed to fill the entire room.

Shikamaru raised his hands to his sides, forefinger touching thumbs, he began to chant words, which none of them could understand and then slowly, he walked forward out onto the middle ledge. As he reached the edge, he turned around to look at everyone, his face still pale and eyes soft; tears began to softly roll down his eyes.  
"Shikamaru?" Naruto yelled, "what are you doing?" His face held dis-belief in it.  
"What are you doing Shikamaru?!" Gaara screamed as Naruto began to run for him.  
Shikamaru smiled gently and Neji's eye's widened as he watched Shikamaru fall, those two seconds felt like hours as every detail of Shikamaru at that moment carved its painting into his head. He was gone.

"Congratulations," Itachi appeared, smiling at Naruto as he wept for the loss of his friend.  
"What do you want now?" Neji frowned; he knew that this had to be his work.  
Itachi ignored Neji and kept his focus on only Naruto, "Naruto I must say that I am impressed, not only were you able to carry the key this far, you were able to find the door with which it un-locks," with this, Itachi turned to face everyone, "I congratulate you all!"

As he raised his hands, the ground under them began to shake heavily and everyone but Itachi was left on the ground, holding on in hopes of not falling. Water soon stopped falling around them and as the shaking stopped, the mist began to dissipate and the water below them began to leave, "where is the water going?" Naruto asked, standing to face Itachi, "it is being released onto the mountain," Itachi replied in truth

"So your telling me that Shikamaru was the first key?!" Gaara snapped, not at all happy with the situation.  
"Yes, that's why he was called here along with Naruto. You we're a mistake," Itachi looked in Gaara's direction, "but you served a useful purpose, you helped carry the key. For that I am grateful," Itachi bowed, not taking his eyes off of the red head, "Naruto is the chosen one, he will bring peace back to the mountain, Shikamaru was but a mere tool to be used, as are you," he smiled at Gaara before turning to Neji, "and you, your highness," he bowed, "I must be going." With that he left, and tears began to fall once again from Naruto's eyes, "your wrong," he whispered, "about everything."

_**TBC**_

**More A/N:** "tears stream from eyes" I am so so sorry I had to do this! It was part of the plan and he had to die..."cry" Don't get me wrong, I love Shikamaru, he is in most every one of my fics...but in this one...he had to die...gomen! bows low


	9. Second Key

**Moonstruck Nightmare**

**IX - Second Key: The Boy's Curse**

**Written By - Treina (angelcrack)**

**A/N:** I am sorry once again for killing Shikamaru! I have noticed that people are worried that Neji and Gaara might be the other two keys, I ASSURE you that this will not happen. Also, thank you to all the lovely people who have commented, I LOVE YOU ALL!

**WwWwW**

Neji could feel the overpowering sorrow and guilt that filled Naruto's heart, these feelings reminded him of when he was young and he watched his parents die, only this was not his sorrow, but Naruto's pain that he was feeling. This was without the shock attached to it. It had been several hours since the fall of Shikamaru, and all the water in the room was gone. No dripping was heard. They had all managed to finally become fully dry and Naruto stood up. He looked off the ledge to the floor of the room where the water had once been.

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked, hoping that Naruto wasn't going to do the same thing Shikamaru did.

"We're going to look for the body," he announced in a bold tone.

"Naruto," Neji stated in a soft voice, "how are we going to get down?"

Naruto looked around for some way to get to the bottom floor, but there was no way down, and he certainly couldnt jump. The fall alone would kill him. But there was no way, no ledge, "I wont leave until we find his body."

"Naruto, how do you know that if we did get down there, how do you know we would find his body?" Garra looked over the ledge, "I don't see him anywhere."

"That's cause your not down there looking!" He snapped, he couldn't belive that Gaara would request to leave Shikamaru, as if nothing had happened. As if Gaara had never knew Shikamaru, and he didn't care, "what the hell is wrong with you Gaara? Don't you even care that Shikamaru died? I thought you were his friend. I knew you always didn't get along, but I.."

At this Gaara cut him off, "I do care Naruto, but I'm not willing to just stand around. We should move sometime, and if we cant find a way down..." Gaara's face held pain within it.

"So if you were the one to die, would you not care that we just left your body somewhere within this damned house?" Naruto's eyes began to water once again, but Gaara's expression did not change.  
"No Naruto I wouldnt care, not if it meant that you had the chance to get out of here quicker, then no Naruto I wouldn't care, not if it meant that my death did not turn into a useless one. Besides, even if we find the body, what would we do with it? We cant bury it anywhere. What do you think? That we should carry it around all over the place?  
"I don't know!" Naruto yelled, "but at least I wont feel as if I abandoned him."

"No Naruto, he was the one who abandoned you," Gaara would not accept that this was all Naruto's fault. It was Shikamaru who had brought Naruto here in the first place.  
"It wasn't Shikamaru's fault!" Truth be known, it was all his fault, if it wasn't for him, Shikamaru wouldn't have ever been involved, if what Itachi says is true, then Shikamaru died due to him, Naruto could tell that Shiakmaru was no controlling himself, that Shikamaru's life was in the palm of his hands the entire time and he never knew it.

Hey!" Lorim shouted from behind.  
Naruto turned around and saw that Lorim was trying to pull a tremendously long bar off the wall, "would this work lad"  
Naruto's face lit up, knowing that Lorim had just solved their current problem, "great job!" He commented, and everyone began to help the two pull off the fifteen foot long bar and soon they were all lowering it to see how far it would reach down to the floor, but they found that it was just too short. "We can make it if we jump from there, the jump doesn't look too far down, I think we can make it."

"So how do we fasten it to the railing?" Naruto looked around and finding nothing, he knew there was only one way, so he began to take off his over shirt. Gaara raised an eyebrow as Naruto did this, "what ye be doin?" Lorim asked with a puzzled look on his face, Naruto wanted to get down to the bottom right? So what was he doing taking off his shirt? Why would you need to be shirtless to get to the bottom?

"I'm going to tie the pole in place...so we don't fall," he began to look for a suitable place to tie the poll and instantly he spotted a place, he tied it as tight as he could, trying to make sure it wouldn't slip out. After he was satisfied with his work he took a step back, "okay, im going to go first to make sure its safe," but Gaara stopped him, "no, I will go first, you stay here with Lorim and Neji, once I get to the bottom, you can follow," Gaara placed a hand on the poll and slowly began to climb down.

It took him nearly fifteen minutes to get to the bottom of the poll, from there he jumped safely to the ground, noticing how slippery the floor was, he was surprised he did fall. Then Naruto began to climb, and once he was to the bottom, he began searching the floor for Shikamaru's body. Three hours went by and there was still no sign of the body. But Naruto refused to find a way out until they found it.

**WwWwW**

"Did you dispose of the corpse?" A soothing voice flooded the room, making goose bumps crawl all over Sasuke's small frame. The young Uchiha nodded slightly, but wouldn't look into the red eyes of his brother.

"Good, that means that I wont have Naruto getting anymore sidetracked than the prince is making him, for now, you may leave." Itachi waved his hand, signaling that he wished that his brother would leave him now and Sasuke slowly turned around and left, closing the door behind him. Now that they had guests, he had something to do with his time. It wasn't often that he got to play with other people. So far, the thing he had the most fun with was sending all the water to them while they were on the staircase, he knew his power was nothing close to that of his brother, but still, he had enough to have some fun. Usually, the only thing he had to play with, was his ball now there were humans to play with, which was much more exiting to watch react compared to ball, which will only bounce, but humans do unlimited amount of reacting in different ways to different things.

Shikamaru was the first person that Sasuke had ever seen murdered. It was an amazing thing to witness, out of all his hundreds of years on this earth, he had never experienced something that gave him that sort of emotion. He had never truly realized how fragile human life was, how easy it is to dispose of it. It amazed him how much pain both physically and mentally a person could go through before they let go of their fragile life. Handle a human the wrong way and he died, this fascinated him, how fragile these beings were.

When Sasuke had disposed of Shikamaru's corpse, he kept getting the feeling that as if Shikamaru's eyes would pop open and his body would once again start functioning. The Uchiha couldn't be happier when Shiakmaru was buried in the very bottom of the building with the rest of the dead people. For a long while, Sasuke watched from way up in the water room Naruto and his friends search for something. After many more hours of watching, he finally began to get bored. He began to act as if he were having the most fun in the world, every child knows that in order to make your friends jealous, all you had to do was make them thing that you were having a lot more fun than them.

"What are you doing?" He asked in his most playful tone, everyone looked his way, glaring at him with everyone they had, "We don't want you here," Naruto stated, "don't you think you've done enough damage?"

Did this blond think that Sasuke was the cause of all this? "I didn't do anything, Itachi was the one who did all this," pouting like a five year old, Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Well, you did nothing to stop it," Nauto was not about to let this child off so easily.  
"I cant do anything, your so stupid!" Sasuke was mad now, all he wanted to do was play, he had decided that his mind worked best when he was having fun. He smiled as he changed the subject, "what are you guys doing?" He repeated.

"Go away already!" Naruto was in no mood to deal with this evil child.

Neji was beginning to wear down due to all the mix of emotions that wouldn't stop hitting him as if he were getting lashed like a disobedient slave, "tell me Sasuke," his tone was flat, almost as if it were an order which should not be disobeyed, although Neji knew he could do nothing to the child, he couldn't help but hold that position, "would you know where Shikamaru's body is?"

Naruto began to protest about Neji asking for help from this...thing, after all, he was the enemy right? But Neji shot Naruto a glare, letting him know that this was not a subject that would be discussed upon. Naruto shut his mouth, but his eyes shot to the ground. At that moment, he felt as if he were being scolded as a child all over again. Sasuke laughed, "oh, so that's what you have been looking for," his smile turned into a stoic stare into nothing, "you wont find it here, I buried him with the rest of the dead people."

"What did you do with him?!" Naruto demanded.  
Hate, pure hate is what coursed through Neji's body and soul, "Naruto, calm down," he snapped, once again as if he were barking orders, "just stop for a minute," he tuned back to Sasuke, "where did you bury the body?"

Sasuke shook his head, "it's at the very bottom of the building, there is no way you would ever find it, its within a labyrinth of graves and tombs," he shook his head again as if confirming it, "nope, there is just too many, you could spend your entire life looking and never find it," now Sasuke was having some fun.

"But you know where it is right? You were the one who buried him," hope now fell upon the blond.  
"Yes," Sasuke replied, "but I am forbidden to show you, brother would punish me, besides, you have made it all the way up here, why would you turn back now?"

Naruto grit his teeth, "because Shikamaru is a friend. Do you think I would just leave him here? In this cursed building? I will find Shikamaru."

Determination, hope, and hate is all that Neji could feel. This was not good, it seemed to be getting worse with every emotion. Soon, all that Neji will be able to feel is what Naruto is feeling. Soon, there would be no more Neji left. His whole being would soon be consumed by Naruto, he was too weak. Naruto's will and soul was beaming with overpowering strength and every emotion that coursed through Naruto's body slowly sucked the soul of the Hyuuga. This struck fear into Neji, fear which crept upon Naruto, "are you okay Neij?"

When Neji nodded in his stoic manner, Naruto wondered if it was his own fear, if it was, then Neji was lying to him , either way he didn't like it. Fear is one of those emotions that was not so easy to get rid of. Fear, which is worse than any other emotion, even anger, for fear would stick like to him like honey on a tree, no matter what reasoning, no matter what the thoughts, fear would always remain.

"I will cut you a deal," Sasuke began, "after you break the curse, I will help you find Shikamaru's body, but only after you break the curse, thats all I can do for you," he didn't know why, but he somehow felt guilty for everything, for the first time in his long life, Sasuke felt as if he had done something wrong. It was a strange feeling, he decided that he liked having visitors. Since Naruto had showed up, he was able to experience all sorts of different feelings and emotions that he never imagined existed.

Although most of these emotions were bad ones, he was still greatful for feeling them, for learning that they existed. For this, he would soon learn that he would grateful forever. With that promise, Sasuke heard his brother call for him, "I must leave," Sasuke smiled and waved his hand, then faded away to nothing.

"He's up to something," Naruto crossed his arms.

**WwWwW**

When Sasuke approached his brother, he noticed that Itachi was smiling at him with intention in his eyes, "your doing well my dear brother, your finally growing up."

What was his brother talking about? Is it possible that he knows about the new feelings that he's been discovering? If he does, would it be a good thing, or a bad thing? Would he be punished for this?

"Tell me Sasuke, have you ever wondered why you don't age?" Itachi gestured Sasuke to move closer.

"It's because of the curse," it was the reason why all of them did not age, it's the reason why they were able to live here for hundreds of years, this was all common knowledge. Why would he think that he was any different?

"Ah, but this curse you speak of, it is not the same curse. Sit down and I will tell you why you don't age little brother."

Sasuke found a seat and waited for his brother to begin the story. The young Uchiha couldn't think of anything better than the stories that his brother told, he hardly ever got to hear one and when he did, they were always exiting and most of them were true. So he sat down, made himself a little comfortable and Itachi began his story.

"Do you remember when I brought you here to this castle?" Sasuke shook his head, it was too many years for him to remember, "the reason you do not carry the same curse as I, is because you were not on this mountain when the curse began, you were with Mother. When she died, I called you to the mountain, just like I did with Naruto. Do you remember?"

Itachi knew that Sasuke would soon find out the truth, this way, his brother would get the whole truth.

Sasuke's face lit up as the memory passed through his being, "yes, I remember walking through the forest, it was scary"  
Itachi smiled, "well, when you got here, I began to see how you were growing up, I would catch you outside playing, a place where I could never go. I grew furious at the simple pleasures my brother had. I was doomed to live an eternity without those rights which you so easily took advantage of," as Sasuke's brother said these words, his eyes became angry, and Sasuke saw that his brother was still mad about the issue.

"But soon little brother, your curse will be lifted, and though your body and mind will stay the same for now, over the passing of years, your will age and change. Your mind will no longer be that of a child, you will not be bound by me anymore, you will be free to leave the castle as you wish. But know this little brother, if you should betray me, I will kill you."

Although his big brother looked extremly angry, Sasuke could tell that he was lying. Itachi would never be able to bring himself to kill his own brother, this Sasuke knew. But why would his brother think that he would betray him? How would Sasuke do that? Sure, there were times when leaving his brother entered into his mind, but in reality, he could never leave his side. Itachi was the person who had looked after him for all these hundreds of years, how could he ever forget that? Is Itachi thinking that he would join the blonde? Why would he do that? All Naruto seemed to do was call him names and be hateful, there was no reason why he would follow such a pest.

"Aniki," Sasuke started, but Itachi's eyes silenced him.  
"Do not lie to me little brother. Did you not already make a promise with that idiot? A promise I hope that you do not intend to keep," Itachi stood and walked over to his chair, "I'm tired Sasuke, leave me for today."

**WwWwW**

"I'm telling you not to trust him! He's up to something!" Naruto was not going to stand by and listen to this.  
"Naruto, we have no choice but to trust him, Shikamaru is no where to be found and we are not going to find him. How are we going to get to the very bottom when we are so close to the top?" Gaara was getting impatient, for some reason, he had a feeling that they should leave.

"Naruto," Neji looked at the blonde with a grave face, "we should go"  
Naruto knew that there was no way he could convince both Neji and Gaara about the situation, so he put his head down and said in a low whisper, "I'm so sorry Shikamaru"  
Gaara frowned but nodded, "then let's go," and walked through the large doors, everyone followed but no one said a word or made a sound.

"It's darker down this tunnel," Gaara commented, he looked around to see that the walls were also getting closer. The red head could not imagine how Shikamaru would take this, he hated any kind of enclosed space. So they neared the end of the tunnel only to find that they were surrounded by...

"Trees?" Naruto's eyes were wide, he reached out to see if what he was seeing was real, but a hand stopped him.  
"No Naruto," Neji shook his head, "do not mess with these, they are not normal," he paused, "it would be best to not touch them."

Naruto nodded his head and made sure to make his way around the branches, "these are dead too." He looked at the trunk of one of the trees with tired and sad eyes, "why is everything dead on this mountain? Is there nothing alive?"

"You and me are alive," Neji placed a hand on the blond's shoulder and smiled, "Gaara is alive, there is hope Naruto"  
"I know," Naruto trailed off, of course there was hope, although it was slim. The closer they got to wherever it was, he got the feeling that maybe he wouldn't make it out of this alive. After what happened to Shikamaru, he wouldn't be surprised if everyone else felt that way too. Then why were they doing this?

"There is hope," Gaara repeated Shikamaru's words.

"What me would likes to know," Lorim began, "is how we to be not touchen these here branches...they be everywhere"  
"Just do your best Lorim," Neji replied, "so far no one has touched any of them, so we still don't know what would happen"  
"Well," Naruto paused "I have actually touched a few branches," he looked down, "by mistake,"

Everyone stopped to look at the blond, "are you okay"  
"Nothing wrong yet," Naruto replied.  
Gaara frowned, "still, let's try not to touch them, ne?"

"I wonder how long this goes on for," Naruto wondered, "I bet the next key is in these...woods," he didn't know what else to call this place. It was exactically like the forest, only stuffier. The tree's almost looked like the ones outside the castle, but these were darker. Naruto didn't blame everyone for being so cautious in this place, these tree's looked like they were pumped full of poison.

Among a jagged trunk, if Naruto looked just right, he could swear that there was something in the tree in front of him that was not part of the tree. He stared at the elaborate patterns which made this tree and was not convinced, there was something in that tree.

"What is it Naruto?" Neji asked, noticing that Naruto was taken by something.  
"That tree," Naruto pointed to the trunk in front of him, "do you see that?" It was barely a whisper.  
Neji stared at the trunk, causing everyone to stop.  
"What is it?" Gaara asked.

"Naruto, I don't see anything," Neji put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "your probably just getting tired"  
"Tired?" Naruto looked at Neji with suspicion, "when does anyone get tired here"  
Neji did not answer.

"I am telling you, there is something in that tree," Naruto squinted his eyes into a better focus, "yes, I'm sure of it."

Naruto headed to the tree and found that it looked closer than it was and when he finally got to the tree, everyone following, the object seemed to be a lot higher as well.

"Do you see it now?" Naruto asked, pointing up at the tree trunk.  
Everyone stared at the tree for a long while, "it certainly is a big one," Neji commented, "but I still don't see anything."

It was in plain sight, why no one saw it, Naruto did not know, but it was there, plain as day. A perfect square, black but a few shades lighter than the tree itself, it almost gave off a green tint. It looked like a box from where he was standing, as if someone had forced it into the tree, the wood around this box seemed to be growing over it.

"I bet it's the second key," Naruto said aloud, "I am going up to get it"  
"No your not," Neji stopped him, "there is nothing in that tree Naruto and I still don't trust these trees"  
"That's good, but I trust this one and I must get the second key, your life and everyone else depends on it," Naruto glared at Neji, "so let go of my arm."

Neji released Naruto and Naruto began to climb the monstrous tree.

**WwWwW**

Sasuke did not know how to take what his brother said. But if it was true, why would Itachi expect him to stay here? What did he mean by betrayal? These things that his brother told him rose too many questions. Why would he curse his own brother? If he hated watching him grow up, what's to stop his brother from killing him the next time he watches him grow up? The Uchiha shivered at the thought of his brother trying to kill him, it was not something that he wanted to go through. There was no fear of death, just the look on brother's face aimed at him, thirsting for his own brother's death. It was a terrifying thought.

So it was decided, if Sasuke's curse would be lifted, he would leave this place and never come back, no matter how terrible Itachi would be to him in his dreams. Dreams you can wake up from. Here, he wasn't so sure. Thinking about it, Itachi had never been nice to him, and he never really took a liking to him. His brother was mean and inflicted fear, as well as pain when he thought that the young boy needed punishment. It was not a great thing to be immortal, to heal quickly, no matter how terrible your body had been torn, it would heal so that it could be torn once again. The pain was the same, but death never came. Sasuke grew to fear Itachi very soon and did everything in his power to keep his brother at bay. Now he was talking about betrayal, and Sasuke's instinct to run became more strong as time went on. He quickly decided that the only way to get out of here, was to help Naruto.

**WwWwW**

Neji, Lorim and Gaara stared at eachother in amazement as Naruto pulled something the size of his hand out of the tree, "what is it?" Neji whispered to himself.  
"It seems that Naruto was correct," Gaara commented before heading to the tree to help Naruto.  
"No!" Naruto shouted from above, "I'm fine, just stay there and wait for me." It wasn't like Naruto to admit it, but he was paranoid about these trees. Sure he was fine, but he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.

When Naruto climbed to the bottom of the tree, he opened his hands to reveal a small black cube with intricate designs laced all around it, covering the entire thing. It was small, but heavy. Naruto stared at it along with everyone else.

"So what do we do with it?" Gaara asked, not really liking the aura it gave off.  
"I don't know, but I'm betting it's the second key," Naruto went on, proud of himself that he found such a small thing in a very unlikely place.

"Wait," Neji paused and looked around, "did you hear that"  
"I didn't hear anything," Naruto answered, but could feel an intense paranoia.  
"It was like a cry or something," the Hyuuga went on to explain in a shaky voice, "it was right next to me."

Then they all heard it, a very deep creaking, almost like a cry or moan. It was right in front of them, but all that stood were trees.

"There be something in ere," Lorim commented, eyeing every tree as if something could be behind it.  
Then another one, this time longer and louder, but it came from the tree that Naruto had just climbed out of.  
"It's the trees," Naruto looked up and around, all the trees around them began to sound off and one by one they began to cry. Soon the sound was unbearable as it continued to grow louder.

"Naruto," Neji pointed to the ground, "what is that"  
Naruto knelt and slid him finger over the ground. It was wet. When he looked at it closely he realized what it was, blood.  
"It's blood," Naruto answered, he stood up and looked around at all the moaning trees, "the trees are bleeding"  
"What?" Gaara looked around, "why"  
"I don't know!" Naruto yelled, not at all liking the situation they were in.  
"Maybe it had something to do with that thing you pulled out of the tree," Neji commented as he noticed that the blood was rising.

"No, thats not right," a childlike voice appeared behind them.  
"Sasuke," Naruto spat the name like it was vomit stuck in his throat.  
"That cube has nothing to do with their crying, they just want to be outside," Sasuke smiled and looked around, "this is my brother's private garden"  
"I doubt that is the only reason," Gaara muttered under his breath.  
"You are probably true, but we should go, you don't want to stay in here for very much longer," Sasuke smiled and skipped among the trees, there is a door over here"  
"How could we trust you?" Naruto growled, all he could think about was Shikamaru's death.

"Just follow him Naruto," Gaara said, "I don't trust him, but the blood keeps rising"  
"Why do you always listen to him?" Naruto was angry and confused, "he was part of the reason Shikamaru died! How can you listen to him"  
"Naruto calm down," Neji placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.  
"No!" Naruto shoved the hand away, "what is wrong with all of you! We were doing fine, why do we need to listen to him?"

Sasuke didn't say a word, he just watched and listened.  
"Why don't you all care? What the hell is wrong with you!" Naruto screamed as loud as he cold hand stunned all his senses.  
"That is enough of that," Itachi smirked before looking over at Sasuke. A minute went by where Itachi stared at his brother, but he didn't say a word and no expression could be read off his face.

"What do you want Itachi?" Neji demanded.  
Itachi looked at the Hyuuga but said nothing, "I see you have found the second key," his focus went to Naruto, "I'm impressed."

"What do we do with it?" Gaara asked, hoping that maybe he would say.  
"I don't know," Itachi said without remorse and looked at Sasuke.

The trees began to go silent and the blood began to drain.  
"But you," Itachi glared, "I am not so pleased"  
With that, he was gone, not to be seen.

"Please hurry guys, I need to talk to you," Sasuke did not look so happy as he said this but began to lead the way.

Naruto did not want to follow him, but everyone else began to follow, this left him with a choice to make. The answer was simple, although it made him mad. There was no way he could ever leave his friends. And for some reason, he got the feeling that Neji would find out soon enough and come looking for him. So he followed in the back, behind Lorim, which was very odd for him, as Lorim would try and make insignificant small talk with him, soon he was quiet, understanding that Naruto was not in the mood for chit chat.

"Okay this is fine," Sasuke had led them though a small door and they were now in a small room where three small staircases led down, one of which did not even look accessible.

"So what do you want?" Neji ordered from the 'child.' "You said you wanted to talk?" Gaara questioned.

"Yes, I need to tell you some things," Sasuke pulled out a small ball and began to toss it up and down in his left hand, "there is a room not far from here where you can use to the key to go up," Sasuke spoke in a bare whisper, "when you use this key to unlock this staircase, a number of things will happen, some of which, I do not know. But I do know that the curse my brother placed on me will be broken and he will probably kill me."

"Why?" Neji asked.

"Because he thinks that I will betray him," Sasuke explained, "the only way I might be able to get out of this alive, or at least with minimum pain, is by helping you guys to get out. When the curse breaks, I will be nothing more than a human six year old with memories that I can assure you no other boy has had. I can tell you other things, some things about you, but for now we must go, he is listening," Sasuke ended and stood up to laugh, "I have to go now, ja ne!" He said in a loud voice compared to the whispering, and left.

"Why should we belive a word he says?" Naruto crossed his arms and looked at each of the staircases.  
"I don't belive him, but time will tell," Neji stated.  
"Should we go down?" Naruto pondered.  
"I don't think so, I bet there is a door or something up ahead," Gaara answered, if not, we can always come back to this spot."

They all agreed and went down the hallway. Soon there were three doors, and just like the staircases, one of them was un-accessible. Naruto figured, that is, if the boy was telling the truth, then the room he needs to use the key in would be one of three doors, but which one to try first?

"Which one?" Naruto asked, looking at all three.  
"Well we cant take that door," Neji pointed, "it looks like its about to fall down"  
"We can always just break it all down and get through if we need, but first, lets try this one," he pushed on the first door and it opened with a creak.

One by one, they all entered the dark room, not really knowing what to expect.

**WwWwW**

Sasuke sat on the windowsill in his room. He stared off into the darkness, remembering a time when there were beautiful tree's to see and birds to hear. But now, there was nothing. Just darkness. One thing after all these years that he never seemed to understand was why, why was he doomed to a life in the dark? With nothing but dark people and dark ideas. He hated it, he hated the darkness, but he couldn't remember what sunlight looked like, the only light that was found here, was still somehow dark.

What would happen when the curse breaks? What would he feel and how would he know? Would he look older already? Would he still retain all the memories of his past life? Dozens of questions ran through the boy's mind as he stared into the darkness. Luckily his brother had not come for him yet, maybe he was waiting until his curse was broke, then he could kill the boy easily. If Itachi did decide to kill Sasuke, then Sasuke hope beyond all hope that there would be no more pain, just death.

**WwWwW**

Candles began to light, one at a time, all the way around the room. They flickered and began to glow bright. Naruto never remembered candles to be that bright.

"It must be because I've been in this darkness," Naruto whispered to himself.  
Everyone around him heard him, but didn't reply, they all also thought the same thing, except for Lorim.  
"It be black magic! This whole place! It not be you lad," Lorim patted Naruto on the shoulder with confidence.

Naruto ignored the man and walked over to the only single table in the room. The red tablecloth hung from the sides of the table and on the red soft material were many things. There was a small screwdriver, a small sphere, much like the cube, three small metal rods, and a roll of red string. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and began to examine each one carefully.

After about an hour he shrugged his shoulders and turned to everyone, "I have no idea what we should do with this cube."

"May I take a look?" Neji asked, walking over to the table.  
Naruto handed him the cube and watched as Neji first looked at the cube. He examined all sides of it before looking at the table.

"I am betting that the only thing on this table that has anything to do with this cube is that sphere," he picked up the sphere and looked at it carefully, "maybe we have to turn the sphere into a cube...or the cube into the sphere," he was only guessing, but it was the only thing he could think of when it came to the key.

"Maybe that is what the screwdriver is for," Naruto suggested.  
"Hmm," Neji picked up the screwdriver and began to tinker with the cube.  
"Are you guys sure you wont break it?" Gaara was not so sure about this.

They both ignored Gaara and focused on the task at hand. Soon, Naruto asked if he could try and Neji handed him all three objects. The instant that Naruto placed the screwdriver into the sphere it began to glow a bright light blue. Everyone watched in amazement as he did the same thing to the sphere. Naruto dropped both of them onto the ground. He looked at his hands, burned and charred, he looked back at the glowing objects. The sphere began to spin and push the cube along the floor until it hit the wall.

Everyone watched as the cube began to shake while the sphere was still spinning. A small bit of smoke was seen as the cube began get bigger, but flatter at the same time. Soon the small cube looked like a door the sphere looking much more like a door knob.

"I think we did it guys," Naruto somewhat smiled as he stared at the door.

**WwWwW**

Sasuke, still sitting on the windowsill, began to feel something in his lower abdomen, a strange tingly feeling. He put a hand there and looked down, "has it begun?"

It wasn't so bad, but just as he thought that, his whole mind and body was taken over by pain. For a while he was able to withstand it, but this pain was too violent, he felt as if he were slowly being turned inside out. He looked at his hands to make sure that this is not what was happening. Soon everything went black and he knew that at this point, he could not stop his mind from shutting off due to the pain. So there he lay, out cold, as slowly, he began to take real breaths and for the first time in hundreds of years, his heart began pumping his blood.

TBC


End file.
